Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

Go to YouTube and type in Xtranormal. You will find thousands of videos. Like it or not, it’s big. And in the right hands, it can be a great marketing tool. In this article, I’m going to share a few tips that can make your Xtranormal video stand out from the others. It’s going to get harder and harder to do as more and more of these are being made. So you might want to make a note of these.

To start with, get yourself a commercial account. That is the ONLY way you can even use these videos to make money with. It is explicitly pointed out in their TOS and trust me, they are not kidding.

Okay, as for the videos themselves, for starters, you want to bring as much animation to them as you can. There is a function in the editing process where you can assign actions to each character at certain points in the video. You want to use these sparingly but you DO want to use them. They really make a big difference. Having characters that just stand there can be dull and boring. A point or a nod at critical points in the video can really have a big impact. Use them sparingly, but use them.

Another thing you want to do is change camera angles regularly. The reason for this is because you don’t want the viewer to see the same angle throughout the entire video. This also can get quite dull. Having said this, you don’t want to have too many camera angles as that can get chaotic. Three of four tops should be good enough to create a video that keeps the viewer’s attention. More than that and things can get a bit muddled.

Finally, you want to keep the speaking parts between characters short. If one character is speaking for two long a period of time, this can also get dull. However, having said that, you don’t want the parts to be too short. You don’t want the camera shots bouncing around like a ping pong ball if you’re going to focus attention on each character as they speak. A few short clips is fine, but if the whole video is like that, it can become quite annoying.

Watch a TV show. I’m serious. Take a look at the camera work and the dialogue, especially for one of those daytime TV dramas. That is the look and feel you want to go for. It takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be cranking out Xtranormal videos that people will actually want to watch.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to get some cool Xtranormal tips that will make your videos sizzle? Visit my blog at http://xtranormalvideotips.blogspot.com/ and become an Xtranormal expert.

Well, it’s probably the worst kept secret in video marketing. I’m talking about the relatively new Xtranormal video service. There are already thousands of Xtranormal videos up at YouTube and I expect that number to increase dramatically. However, if you want to get the most out of this service, here are a few tips that will really help a lot. I hope you find these to your satisfaction.

For starters, get the premium service. If you’re going to make money with the videos, you’ll have to get a commercial account. It comes out to $20 a month which is not too bad. This will give you the right to direct people to your sites with the videos for the express purpose of making money. Yes, they have very strict TOS so please be sure you read them. By getting a premium account, you’ll have access to more characters, scenes, no trailer and a lot of other goodies that you won’t want to do without.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you REALLY want to get the most out of Xtranormal, get yourself a camcorder and some video editing software such as CamStudio, which is free. Let me explain why. Yes, these videos are really cute and can stand alone. But eventually, the novelty of the characters will wear off. However, by using a Camcorder and recording yourself and them editing the video so that it appears you are interacting with the characters, you’ve added a whole new dimension to this thing. To pull this off, all you need is a camcorder, editing software and the service itself.

Finally, and this is probably the most important thing, stick with a theme. You want people to identify with main characters in your production. This way, as you do more and more videos, there will be this familiarity that will make people feel comfortable with the production. It’s the reason why we have favorite TV shows. Eventually, we get to know the people and grow to love them. It’s the same thing with these videos. You want people to love your characters.

Nobody can predict the future. Xtranormal may someday be a distant memory. However, as of this moment, it is hot. So if you’re going to take advantage of it, keep the above tips in mind when making your videos.

It CAN make the difference between a hit and a flop for YOU.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to get some cool Xtranormal tips that will make your videos sizzle? Visit my blog at http://xtranormalvideotips.blogspot.com/ and become an Xtranormal expert.

Internet marketers are getting more and more creative everyday. We all know by now that video is big and a great way to get your message out to people. But this new craze has taken video to a whole new level. If put in the proper hands, it can be hugely successful. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, keep reading. I’ll fill you in on all the details.

I learned about this from a member over at the Warrior Forum (where else?) The craze I’m talking about is animation. Yes, there are tools out there that will allow you, and quite simply I might add, to make animated videos for your product’s message. One of these is Xtranormal dot com, which is just pure genius. I won’t go into all the specifics. You can go there and check them out. But I will give you a basic run down.

Essentially, the way it works is like this. You go to the site and you get walked through a bit of a wizard. You are first given options for what characters you want to use and how many. The free options allow up to two characters. There are options for premium members.

After you have chosen your characters, you type out your script for each character. You can also use stage directions as well which control camera angles and how the characters move in the video itself. The voices are computer generated and a little artificial sounding, but that only adds to the charm of these videos.

After you’ve finished your input, the video is rendered and you can then upload it to YouTube. If you go to YouTube and look up Xtranormal, you will see tons of these already. They are VERY popular. Combine these with a solid message and you can actually make some money from your business.

But…and this is a big but…know something about video production and scripting before you venture off into this area. If you don’t know the basics of how to create a video, you’re going to end up with a mess on your hands.

As I said, in the hands of the right person, this can be a great tool.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to get all the tips you’ll need to create great videos, even Xtranormal ones? Visit my review of Kevin Riley’s Video Creation Product at at http://stevenwagenheim.blogspot.com/2008/06/kevin-rileys-recipe-for-success.html and get yourself a real video creation education that you can take to any media.

In this entry, I’m going to show you how to get the most out of your Xtranormal membership. This is some really cool software, but if you take it to the next level, you’ll be way ahead of the competition.

Let’s begin.

First thing you want to do is get a premium or commercial account. If you want to make money from the videos, you need a commercial account. The reason you want to go premium is because you get access to more features such as characters, settings, and so on. Trust me…it’s worth every penny.

Next thing you want to do is get yourself a camcorder of some kind. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Just something that can take movies. The reason is this. The videos themselves are fine, but imagine mixing in live human beings interacting with the characters. It takes the whole thing to a new level. Very few people will do this.

Finally, you will need some editing software to splice the live action in with the characters. If you can’t afford Camtasia, which is what I use, you can get CamStudio for free.

Okay, now, as far as making the videos, I’ve developed a process for doing this that will make the whole thing go a lot smoother. Remember, you are now taking bits and pieces of many videos and splicing them together. This can get really hairy without a system. So here it is…a very good one too.

Write the script for ALL the characters, including yourself if you’re going to be in the video. You need to have everything written in advance.

Here is my sample script from the last video I did:

Steve:

This is an XNN special news bulletin. Steve Wagenheim reporting. This just in. Home business owners reported being scammed.

Character 1:

Yeah, I was robbed.

Character 2:

Me too.

Steve:

Tell me, just what exactly has gone down?

Character 1:

Some jerk promised me that I’d be making all this money if I bought his crappy e-course. Instead, all I got was a load of horse manure.

Steve:

Could you be more specific?

Character 1:

It was crap.

And so on…

Okay, you will notice that the dialog is back and forth, just as it would be in a normal conversation. However, you don’t want to record each piece of the conversation one piece at a time. For a long script, that’s a nightmare.

So what you want to do is this. Type in ALL the dialog for A character and create a whole video for THAT character. That way, when you import it, all you have to do is edit each segment for the specific dialog you want.

Xtranormal has an option where you can upload your video to YouTube. Do it. THEN, use one of those online downloaders to download the video to your PC.

Here are two that I use.

http://www.mediaconverter.org/

http://www.forinside.com/

After you have each character completed, including your own character, import each video into your editing software.

What you then want to do is go through your script, line by line. Find the WHOLE video that contains THAT dialog and drag it to the time line. You’ll have more than you really need. This is where the editing comes in.

What you have to do is delete all the dialog BEFORE and AFTER the dialog that you actually want to appear at THAT part of the time line. The software makes this fairly easy to do.

After you’ve finished with that piece of dialog, move down to the next piece in your script and repeat the process.

For a long script, it DOES take some time. But trust me…the end result is well worth it.

When you’re done, compile the finished video into whatever format you want. If it’s for YouTube, I suggest FLV. It’s smaller than SWF.

Here is the latest video I’ve done so you can see how it looks when it’s all finished.

I’ll have more great Xtranormal tips for character creation and a whole lot of other stuff coming soon.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim