What You Need To Have To Start Vlogging

Now entering the vlogosphere, you need to be equipped by the right tools to maximize your vlogging experience. What exactly do you need to do get that vlogging spirit pumping?

1. Video Camera
In vlogging, a video camera is a must. A great high-resolution camera is a good investment if your really want to take vlogging seriously for your business or any other promotions. But if you are on a tight budget, your trusty web cam will do.

2. Computer
You'll need an equipment for you to upload and edit your videos, and there's no other place to do it with than your own personal computer or laptop, preferrably with a competitive processor and really big space for storage. Video files are often heavy files, so you will need a decent computer for this that can cope with the editing and storing.

3. Editing Software
There are free editing softwares available on the net, but you can also buy video editing softwares that are around the market. This is worthy to be invested upon anyway if you want to take vlogging  as a lifestyle. Also, editing the videos can help you "clean" the videos. Forget about re-recording the whole thing if you made a mistake. If you have an editing software, you could easily cut out the blooper moments and organize the clips to make a video with a clean smooth transition.

4. Internet Connection
This is important if you want to Vlog. Your audience  may come from the entire populace of the world wide web. So get a fast connection so that you can upload and buffer yopur videos in a breeze.

While these the things listed here are devices that you could easily obtain in the market, there are some other things that are equally important to vlogging that money could not buy. And those are your personal creativity, patience, and  perseverance to maintain the vlog that you started.

It is easy to start vlogging, but the the challence is to stay vlogging.

To Vlog or not to Vlog: Advantages of Using Video Blogs Today

Video blogs can be the very thing that would fire up your lethargic business growth. And it may also be your door to global recognition. Because of the fast paced movement of the online community, video blogging is probably a very good idea for you if you want to take internet interaction to a higher level that just plain blogging.

1. Vlogs provide a conversational feel to the viewers. To your onlooker it would be like you are talking in the same room. Pure text blogs could not do that. Video blogs provide a vicarious intimacy that happens when you and someone are talking face to face with each other.

2. Vlogs, provided that it is decently shot, would not easily bore your audience. Because of the motion picture visual element that is provided by vlogs, the entertainment factor is higher compared to plain text blogging. The old blogging style may compensate its lack of visual appeal through pictures, but the effect is different when it is in film. As long as your videos are not recklessly shot, like some of those poorly edited and filmed videos that are circulating the net, you can, in a way, entertain your viewers more.

3. Vlogs are challenging and exciting to make. But if you want a fairly simple blog which focuses more on content that effects, you could just record a simple footage of yourself talking in front of the camera. If you want a more interesting kind of video, you can always get editing software that are available to you to tweak your videos a little bit and make it more appealing to your audience.

Continue to maintain your vlogs and putting your ideas on film. Then go and tell it to the world. You'll never know how many people are going to be influenced by that tiny spark of inspiration in your mind. Start sharing. Start vlogging today.

Vlogging for SEO?

With the rise of video hosting sites, video logging has also rapidly emerged in the mainstream of internet connectivity. The wikipedia claims that vidblogging or vlogging actually started to gain momentum in the internet popularity race in the year 2005. With the rolling development of vlogging, how can we use this in Search Engine Optimization?

Now, what we know is that, the search engine bugs do not have the ability to scan video content. They only read the html tags used. That's why SEO Specialists are really wary in recommending videos as a major or main feature of a web page or web design. But is there no way to remedy this?

Of course there is. You can still video blog and not compropmise your optimization at the same time.

The trick here actually, is simply transcribing your video. (So take note that you also need to make your video keyword rich so that the transcribed copy would be the same.) This would be like putting subtitles to films that a certain group of people could not understand.

You can use video blogs to boost your business, your career, your company, or your product. You can find a lot of disadvantages when you utilize a video to get your message across than just normally using a typical text-heavy blog. These Vlogging tips and reminders are also helpful for you who are just starting out to venture the world of video blogging. Whether it is for entertainment or business purposes, video blogs is surely the way to go when it comes to contemporary online blogging.

Vlogging Tips from the Vlogging Experts

So was I snooping around the net for a video that will pin down the perfect vlogging tips that will get you going as a first time vlogger. And what I've have discovered gems from the topnotch video bloggers Kevjumba, Happy Slip, and David Choi:

Vlogging Tips from KevJumba

1. Never give out boring introductions. Don't just face the Camera and introduce yourself the David Copperfield sort of way -it will make your video look "dry". Insert appropriate music during introduction to put establish a lively vibe with your viewers.

2. Use your hands. Hand movements "capture your audience and hypnotize them" as what KevJumba revealed. And according to him, the proper hand movements will make your viewers subscribe to you. How cool is that?

3. Just smile. As what KevJumba said: If you're happy, they're happy.

Vlogging Tips from Happy Slip

1. Connect with your audience. Make them feel that you are having a conversation in real time. If you want to make a good video for  video blog stare into the camera make an eye contact. Avoid looking down on the floor! (Well, unless it's part of an entertaining acting stint.)

2. Lean in to the camera and get intimate with your audience. This is also one way to establish a connection with your audience, like you're conversing with each other face to face or as if you are in the same room.

3. Say something personal and tell a story. Personal experiences that are memorable and fun can interest other viewers too. Like in blogging were you share bits and pieces of yourself, video blogging let's you do the same. OF course you need to make sure that the life stories that you share are not strictly very private matters, because well, the internet is still the internet. Any information that you give can make or break you.

Vlogging Tips from David Choi

1. Be aware of your look. Be unemotional when making videos. This is the key to vlogging according to him.  Being unemotional will give you composure. This will let look like someone with an "attitude" that is just right for someone who hosts a video blog.

2. Roll up your sleeves because sometimes, it gets kind'a hot when you make videos. This is also for establishing great lighting, because most of the time, the part of your arm covered by your shirt sleeve is whiter than the rest of your arm. This, according to David, improves camera lighting.

3. Put it a lot of video effects. You need to have a video editor so that you can tweak your blogs and boost its appeal to your audience. As David puts it in, people in this generation "watch videos for effects. They don't watch it for content. If you do that, you will put the plus in the A, creating an A+.


Did everything make sense? Get enlightened. Watch this video.

So Now You Wanna Be a Vlogger?

Once Upon a time, the pen and paper was created, and man said it was good. And he started to pour his heart out on a journal or diary - and he kept it inside locked drawers or number combination protected vaults, because he was afraid to be called gay or emo, since the notes on those papers contained his very soul. And there were happy moments. And embarrassing moments. And frightening moments. And some more embarrassing moments. But the point is, other people must not - never - read those notes (No! Over his dead body! They can wait until he dies!). It's his and yours alone to keep.

And then the great big World Wide Web was created and man said again that it was good. And the Blog was created. And after the Blog is the Vlog. And yeah, I know I'm not making sense now, and It feel like I just wasted about a paragraph of internet space, but hey, do you know that there's a way where I can talk nonsense but still get a lot of followers? Yep. Just Vlog. No not Blog, Vlog.

What is a Vlog? Hey, Did I Spell It Correctly?

No my dear, you've read it right. A Vlog is a shortened term for video log. This is what's taking internet online connectivity by storm. The triumphant entrance of Youtube to the World Wide Web and its uncontested popularity is a major reason why Video Blogs and Vloggers were born. While a normal blog primarily banks on written content, and a few occasional streaks of photographs or videos, the vlog, on the other hand, utilizes the video itself, to state out a point, express an idea, or just make you puke your bowels out while laughing and rolling on the floor. In short, the vlogger talks to you using videos. And yes, you can still leave comments like how you do on normal blogs - the main difference between the two is basically just the primary medium used to bring up the topic of the conversation. So let's ask NigaHiga's opinion on what vlogging is all about:




Err... okay anyways...

Why Vlog?

The most popular vlogs nowadays are tweaked for entertainment purposes. But that what makes vlogging very notorious in killing you through laughing out loud. Anyway, to best know why you need to vlog, check out videos of these popular vloggers: NigaHiga, KevJumba, Happy Slip, and David Choi. Especially NigaHiga. :)

Top Three Begginner Steps to Optimize Your Blog: Wow You Got a Blog! Now What?

Blogging is the new face of promotion and advertising.  There are a lot of free sites offerring free blogging service. The most prominent ones are Blogger and Wordpress.

You wanted to start your own blog maybe out of purely personal or business reasons, or a hybrid of both. And now you have one, but what do you do from now on?

Here some simple steps for newbies to optimize your blog and gaining the readership that you want over time:

1. Try to change your blog's template.

By this, I mean personalize your blog page. The free blogging sites have default templates which you can choose from, but, these default templates can sometimes turn off readers. And yes they can get really boring. Remember, your blog will tell something about you or your business, and how its looks may make or break your blogging career. Think of a template as your outfit when you go out of your house. Other prople can already form an idea about who you are with the clothes that you are have and how you wear them. The same goes with blogs. As the saying goes, first impression lasts.

Here are some sites that you can check if you are interested for other templates besides the defaults ones offered by your host:

For Blogger Users

Btemplates
Blogger Template Blog
Deluxe Templates

For Word Press Users

Top WP Themes
WordPress Themes Base
Templates Browser

2. Update your blog regularly.

Most bloggers just rode the hype of blogging, and after the first post, they just disappeared into oblivion never to come back again. Of course in order for the web spiders to index your blog fast, you need to update it five times a week at the most preferable rate. Spiders love updates. Also, nobody wants to read your post that was last dated 2003. Hello, dude. It's 2010 already! Keep your readers on their toes by providing them news on your recent activities. Remember, content also matters. Write original content to avoid having a bad reputation around the blogging community as the big blogging copycat. After all, there are people who do get interested if they notice that your post is something they have never seen before. Or something that they know of, but has been given your personal twist. Be creative.

3. Comment on other people's blog.

The Blogosphere is a community of other people from different places in the world. That means there is a plethora of other individuals out there who may have the same or different idea - and also infinite opportunities to get to know some of them as you delve your way into the blogging world. Drop by a blog, and most importantly, don't forget to likewise drop a comment. Giving out comments is the main method of bloggers to interact with each other. If you put a really useful or interesting comment on a other people's blog, chances are, other users would click on your link, see your profile and, additionally, your blog too.

These are just simple tips that you can undertake when starting out as a blogger. Happy blogging!

Recognize a Spam Blog: Stop Sploggers From Spreading Part II

 Characteristic no. 6
* Blogs with keywords in the URL.  Then they are followed by characteristic no. 2. If you find this characteristics in a particular blog, then it's time to raise your Splog Suspect flag.

Characteristic no. 7
* Blogs that does not allow comments in their posts. Okay, although some blogs do this, majority of the Splogs really ban comments in their posts. Normal bloggers usually just set it in a way that they can moderate the comments. Sploggers do this so that other spammers could not also spam in their comments page by the time they achieve a high rank in the search engine results pages. No comments means no additional burden of deletion or moderation. That's also one characteristics of Splogs - they are low-maintennace blogs.

Characteristic no. 8
* Blogs that steal content. You stumble upon this blog, read it's post - and realize that you are reading your own write-up! Sploggers, because they simply have no time to create their own content, resort to completely or substantially stealing other people's ideas. 

Characteristic no. 9
* Its content is trash. Really. Just read it. If the sentences just do not add up to each other or if the posts are really prone to grammatical lapses, then you might be looking at a potential Splog.


Characteristic no. 10
* Blogs with posts containing a particular word or phrase that is repeated all through out the article. That word or phrase is usually the keyword or keyphrase that Sploggers are aiming to get ranked highly for. And if the overall thought of the article really just does not add up - it's another Splog alert for you.


Those are some of the characteristics that you may observe whenever you encounter a Splog. But remember again though, not all users who create blogs to generate income are Splogs. Everything still depends on the content that you read. As long as it can be useful to users, even if it sells a product or promotes an advocacy or a company, it is still a blog. Do know when it those sites get overboard though.

Think twice of reporting a suspected Slog to Blogger. For all you know, you may be reporting a blog  used by a genuine blogger who had efforted to construct his blog from scratch and who has a substantial number of folowers and visitors. A month of suspension or blog deletion may be a really big blow for those people.

Recognize a Spam Blog: Stop Sploggers From Spreading Part I

 How do you identify a Spam Blog or Splog when you happen to meet one? If you find that most of the descriptions that I listed here aptly fits a blog that has been bothering you lately, there a very high probability that that blog is a Splog.

Characteristic no. 1
Observe the post - if there are a good number of links in one page that point to a single site, that blog is probably a splog. This one of the foolproof ways to check if  a blog is genuinely a blog or if it is simply faking it. To make sure if the blog is just link spamming, try to look at the other blog posts. Are the articles written on each post similarly peppered with links to the same site? If yes, you've got yourself a Splog Suspect.

Characteristic no.2
* Blogs that are merely scraping information. There are a lot of scraper sites created in blogger. By Scraper Site, we mean those blogs who simply "scrape" , juice out , or cut content from other blogs when all they do is just to redirect you to another site which they probably promote.

Characteristic no. 3
* Blogs with absurdly innumerable posts. Sixty to ninety posts a month is passable. But two hundred to more than a thousand posts a month? Dude are you a robot? Or maybe an automatic article spinning and blog posting software program?

Characteristic no. 4
* Blogs with only a single post, and which has characteristic no. 1. Seriously, this is a fake blog. After successfully posting  a page with links directing to their site, the owner leaves the blog to flies and cobwebs. It served its purpose. There's no one maintaining it anyway.

Characteristic no. 5
* Blogs that have suspicious company name or product name in their URL adresses, especially if coupled by Characteristic no. 1. Remember, not all blogs with this attribute are fake blogs. Some people just make use of their blogs for generation of money - you can't deny that. Even blogger has a monetize section in each of their accounts right? Using blogs for money is not really the issue here, because there are some blogs that do that and yet, they still provide content that are interesting to many readers. A splog is different. Splogs are ALL links and NO content kind of blogs.

Click to continue to read more of how to identify a Splog.

Spam Blogging: Are Fake Blogs Invading Blogger Too?

Yes, and they are also swiftly overtaking and domineering the whole blogosphere at a drastically fast pace.

The Blog Herald reported that, according to a survey that was conducted by the Google Blogscoped, a whopping sixty percent of the total blogs here in Blogger were Splogs or mere Spam Blogs. Out of fifty blogs, thirty were found to be of no particular use at all. When the number of blogs tested had been raised to a hundred, forty two percent were discovered as fake blogs.

Blogger Philipp Lenssen, an avid tracker of Google updates, commented that:
“Google itself shows there are around 7,500,000 pages hosted on Blogspot. If we extrapolate the number, we might estimate Google is hosting 4 million spam pages. (Of course, this number is by no means in any way precise.) Even though I expected some amount of spam, I was surprised just how much it is. From the small sample I took it looks like on average, a site hosted at Google's Blogspot is more likely to contain spam than anything else.”

So there you go. Our neighborhood blog may be one of those spam blogs we are talking about. Is it possible to report spam blogs to Blogger?

Yes, you can definitely report a spam blog. Blogger provides a service wherein they check the blog in question that you submit. Now that you have realized that you can combat fake blogs in Blogger, you might want to know how to identify a spam blog.

New-Bee Guide: How to Embed a Youtube Video to Blogger

We all get our noob moments and it's one thing that we should not be embarrassed of. I had my fair share of bitter sweet greenhorn glory when I first met blogger. I had this video from youtube that I really wanted to share in my blog, but can't, because, well, I have no idea how in the first place. So for all those new-bee bloggers out there who are using this service, or for those who have been blogging eversince but are just honestly oblivious to uploading a certain video to your blog page, here are some tweaking tips on how to embed a youtube video to blogger:

Getting the Video

Go to the Youtube site at www.youtube.com and search for a video that you are interested to place in your blog page.

Look for the Embed  box underneath the video that you are  viewing. Click it. You'll then see a drop down box containing the embed code. Copy the code.


Posting to Blogger
 
Log in to your blogger account. Create a new post or edit the post where you intend to place your video. Click the edit Edit html tab on top of the post editor. Paste the video directly in the editing field. To make sure that your video is in the right place, preview your post. Edit if if there are still some tweaking to be done.

Publish your post, and that's it. You have already embedded a youtube video into your blog page. ^_^

You can also refer to the video below on how to embed youtube videos on blogger.