In blogging, the written word will never die, but 2011 marks a time in blogging where creating video content has never been cheaper, or easier. So what are you waiting for? Here are 23 reasons you should add video blogging (vlogging) to your mix.
1. Passion
Are you using CAPS LOCK to demonstrate your passion? Try video instead.
2. Empathy
Bloggers who write about controversial topics are more likely to be demonized in pure print. Video blogging lets people relate to you and helps them see that you’re human. The form encourages empathy and generally means you’ll experience fewer personal attacks (unless you’re a political pundit).
3. Rambling
You can get away with rambling more in video blogs. Sometimes.
4. Optimization
One of the biggest benefits to video blogging is that you grow your SEO skill set by learning to optimize for a different algorithm. Video content is going to become more popular, and Google will find better ways to incorporate video into universal search results. You should also get more experience creating video XML sitemaps.
5. Presentation Skills
You’re going to get better as you’re forced to get in front of a camera. It’s the perfect way to transition from writing good content to presenting good content to groups. (And it will ultimately make you a better blogger, because you’ll end up writing about what you can get passionate about in real life)
6. Demonstrations
You can explain all you want, but sometimes it’s easiest just to show what you’re talking about. Video blogging lets you demo your idea and greatly reduces the risk that you won’t explain something effectively.
7. Grammar and Spelling
If you have a terrible time putting words on paper because your language skills just aren’t where you want them to be, video blogging lets you fake it. There’s nothing worse than people missing great substance because they get hung up by spelling or grammar mistakes.
8. Expectations
Because so few people create video blogs (and because regular blogging has reached critical mass), the expectations of video blog posts is generally lower than traditional blog posts. This also means that your ability to impress with good vlogging is much easier.
9. Personality
For many bloggers, there’s a disconnect between what you write and who you feel you truly are. Vlogging bridges that gap and lets you be yourself (usually a good thing).
10. Length and Editing
You can put as little or as much time into the post as you want, when you vlog. Even free programs like Windows Movie Maker or other freeware can add some cuts and fades to greatly enhance a post, without much effort. It makes your finished product look more clean and crisp.
11. Smiling
It’s a lot easier to win people over with a smile than with amazing content. Be lazy.
12. Audience
YouTube is technically a larger search engine than Yahoo. There’s a whole new world of people out there waiting to be brought into your world.
13. Context
Have you ever read a blog post that begins “I’m writing this from a relaxing chair on the beach of a secluded Caribbean Island?” That’s nice but doesn’t get the point across.
14. Skills
You’re going to a much better blogger and marketer if you’re versatile enough to incorporate video. Video skills definitely come in handy for contest or event promotion.
15. Formatting
One of the most annoying things about blogging is being done with the content, then spending an extra hour trying to get the text and images positioned and sized like you want. Video is plug and play. Embedding makes it a cinch.
16. Sarcasm
Bloggers know how easy it is to be misconstrued. Your attempts at sarcasm and satire and many other nuanced forms of communication won’t risk going unnoticed or misunderstood in video blogging. Tone and inflection are all critical to creating vlog posts that stand out.
17. Consumption
Many people will bash video blogging because it can’t be skimmed. True, but it can be run in the background. There’s a class of media consumers who will love you for providing content they can conveniently absorb while doing something else.
18. Screen Capture
Try doing the equivalent of “video screen capture” in written form with screenshots. It sucks. You know what I’m talking about.
19. Practice
When you’re forced to express your thoughts in front of a video camera, you’re going to naturally refine those thoughts and create better ones. You’ll also get accustomed to organizing your thoughts, which will come in handy in conversations later.
20. Volume
If you sit and talk in front of the camera for an hour, you can always break up your video into chunks and spread them into parts over several days. This can free up a lot of time.
21. Variety
Your blog readers will appreciate something different. Musicians reinvent themselves all the time.
22. Subscription
Hosting video blogs on a 3rd party site like YouTube means not only can people find and subscribe to your content by RSS, but you also have channel subscriptions to grow your fan base.
23. Syndication
You can push out video blog posts to numerous video hosting sites easily using a free service like TubeMogul (I recommend doing so if you have the time to go back later and make your content unique on each video site).
