all posts tagged “blogs”
We've been lucky over the years. Our videos tend to speak for themselves and have helped to build a little buzz and help our brand without too much formal PR. But with the launch of the new site, we thought a little buzz would help get the word out about the our new direction. Below are links and excerpts from a few blog posts about the new Common Craft.
Seattle’s Common Craft video firm has built a business out of simple, explanatory online videos made of paper cutouts — most famously the “Twitter in Plain English” video that was featured for more than a year on the Twitter home page. Now the small company is trying to carve out a new business model — switching to a membership approach and moving away from pay-per-download videos.
Three years ago we wrote here about how the two person team quit doing client work and moved into a model based entirely on licensing rights to the educational videos they produced. Their videos were available for free online, but corporate customers happily pay to have the rights to show the content to their employees. This week Common Craft changed models again. From an iTunes model to a Rhapsody model, co-founder Lee LeFever says. Customers will now buy subscriptions and have access to all the videos Common Craft produces. It's an interesting twist in a story that any independent content producer online could find inspiring.
All in all, I think it’s a great move. Today more than ever, teachers and businesses are looking for ways to incorporate video into their educational practices. But there’s a shortage of quality video to choose from, and for many, creating their own videos is simply not feasible.Enter Common Craft, who already has a reputation as a top creator of short, practical educational videos. Says LeFever:“We’re building a platform that will allow us to understand the needs of our members and grow our video library significantly based on that relationship. It’s a win-win.”If you use video to education clients, employees, or students, I’d recommend giving Common Craft’s video subscription service a look. You’ll be hard pressed to find many other sources for videos that entertain and charm as much as they educate.
But I also think the two videos above just prove one thing, Common Craft cannot be copied. No one but Lee and Sachi have the pixie dust to turn 3 minute videos into something magical. I totally agree with this piece of the press release:"The simple format, clear communication and lighthearted attitude connects with people on a fundamental level. They make people smile in three minutes."
As the pay-TV industry has learned over the years - and Netflix has more recently - the pay-once/watch-as-much-as-you'd like aspect of subscriptions is very compelling. The purchase decision needs to be made just once up-front and thereafter the provider can focus on delivering value. That's the approach Common Craft is now using and it looks like a smart move.
There are a lot of reasons I'm delighted by this latest evolution, not the least of which is my happiness at seeing friends succeed. But maybe the biggest one is this:Nearly every traditional business model for content creation is in turmoil these days. Books, newspapers, television, movies, music — all of those industries are scrambling to cope with the challenges of a new and dynamic digital world. So when someone comes along who can create something terrific, who can do it really well, and can turn that into a viable business, it offers real hope for anyone who wants to earn a livelihood from their creative talents and skills.
I've been really excited to see the feedback about the new Web License. Asking people to pay to embed a video has raised questions and responding to them has been an interesting experience. If nothing else, it's eye-opening to see what people are assuming about our business.
For example, Mike Masnick at Techdirt wrote an article called "Viral Video Producers Want To Charge You to Embed Their Videos." Then, Steven Hodson at Inquisitor follow up the Techdirt article with "Common Craft Seems to Forget What Makes Viral Video... Well Viral."
Both these articles assume (mostly incorrectly) a few things:
1. Viral video is our business/marketing model
2. YouTube is required to build a business on video
3. Our Web License is focused on viral distribution
It's really interesting to me that, after 3 years of making nearly 30 of our own videos, people still think we're a viral video company. We haven't had a viral hit in a very long time, or thought we could build a business on viral videos. In fact, I'm not sure successful businesses can be sustained that way. I assumed, perhaps optimistically, that a visit to our web site would make that clear.
Now I'm wondering if what has appeared on a few blogs is a widely held perception? Are we not explaining our own business well enough?
The truth is, we make high quality educational videos - videos that help organizations and individuals accomplish goals. These are videos (unlike most viral videos) that people are happy to pay to license because they are useful. The best we can do is make a quality product and attract people and organizations that want to buy it. Part of this strategy is making commoncraft.com the home of our videos - not a host like YouTube.
The Web License model is something that (as far as we know) has never been offered before. In the context of purely viral videos, it would be a very difficult model. But the value of our videos is not so much in blog posts or viral distribution, it's in solving problems for people and organizations whose job is to inform and educate others, on and off the web. That's where you'll find us in the future.
ReadWriteWeb on Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on December 28, 2008- 4:00pm
Categories: blogs, business, buzz, clientwork, network
Marshall at ReadWriteWeb, posted a story today about Common Craft that was actually published a few months back, but has been reposted at a "redux." It's one of my favorite bits of press and called "How Common Craft Stopped Doing Client Work, in Plain English." I don't know of any other blog post that tells our story better.
Since the original story was posted in September, we've created a resource that helps organizations in need of custom videos find producers who can help. It's called the Common Craft Explainer Network. I wrote about it here.
While we've significantly limited our client work to focus on our educational videos, we see an opportunity to play a role in the growing niche around explanatory videos of all types. We want to help talented producers find great projects and create a community around explanatory videos.
This is coming a bit late, but The Common Craft Show has been nominated for an Eddie - An Edublog Award in the category of Best Educational Use of Video/Visual. The polls close tomorrow - we're hoping for a late-breaking victory. Thanks!
Update: Thanks so much everyone. We came in second, which makes us proud. You can view the results by clicking "view result" on the poll. It wasn't even close really, Steve Spangler's Blog, which focuses on science education, got the lion's share of votes. Congrats Steve!
By the time I discovered the blog at Explainist.com, it had gone dark. The authors "Tom" and "Dave" had covered Common Craft , Scott McCloud's work at Google and a host of other explanation-related topics since January of 2007. Now the blog has sat unused since September 4th.
I'm writing because I hope Explainist.com will come back. I've tried to find the owner of the site, but the WHOIS lookup only shows the host's name. I even thought Tom and Dave might be the Tom Crawford and Dave Gray from VizThink and Xplane (respectively), but they don't claim credit either.
Tom and Dave, if you're listening, please consider cranking up Explainist.com again. There are lots of great things happening in the explanation world and we'd love to see your blog help cover it all.
1000+ items. That's what Google Reader told me I need to read to catch up with my RSS subscriptions. It's intimidating. My RSS feeds were mocking me. I could see them with sneaky voices "hee hee, you'll never read me, you don't have the time. ha ha." The sad part is, they were right.
I stopped opening my RSS reader months ago. It wasn't a concerted effort, I just didn't do it. What I found was that longer I stayed away, the easier it was to stay away. Returns diminished with each passing day and at some point I gave up on reading anything via Google Reader. Now, I'm happy to report that I'm back on the wagon (I think that's the right analogy). My time away gave me some perspective on what I want to read and where I want to read it.
Culprit #1: Twitter
I was trying to figure out a clever title for this post along the lines of "Twitter Killed the RSS Star", but it wouldn't work. The sentiment works in my case however. I have integrated Twitter into my life and I think that it became a surrogate for reading blogs. Lots of people I follow share their blog posts on Twitter, I have found the relationships that are created to be more personal and it's all so lightweight. Watching Twitter updates gave me the feeling of connection, awareness and discussion that I love about blogs in an efficient and manageable package. Before I knew it, Twitter had replaced reading RSS feeds.
Culprit #2 Subscribing to the Wrong People
Looking back, my RSS reader has been filled with people I felt I should be reading. Let me repeat that - should be reading. I think that's a problem. I felt like I needed to watch TechCrunch to stay on top of tech news. I felt like I needed to subscribe to experts in my field(s). Sure, these subscriptions were educating me and raising my awareness, but I seriously question the cost/benefit. Reading them felt like homework - and I don't like homework.
This all came to a head recently when our best friends (and former Seattle neighbors) came to town and stayed with us. Within a little while, blogging came up and it turned out they had both posted a few entries in the run-up to the trip to Seattle. I had no idea. I had to tell them that I stopped reading blogs and I felt bad for not keeping up. These people matter about a million times more than the people clogging up my RSS Reader and I had let the 1000+items-of-things-that-don't-matter scare me away.
What I Did
Like I've done before, I started over. I opened up Google Reader, took a nice long look at the list and asked myself - does this matter to me? Do I even know this person? Will I be worse off without this content in my life? No. No. No. Nearly everything was wiped clean.
When I started adding feeds to fill the void, I did it with a filter. My RSS reader isn't for news, it isn't for niche analysis, it isn't because I "should". My RSS reader is now filled with subscriptions to sites that matter to me. These posts are written by people I know and care about. They make me feel like reading RSS is a treat - a few minutes spent being with an old friend.
It's only been a little while, but I think RSS may, once again, become a strong contender for my passive time. Now I can miss a day of RSS reading, open the reader and have Google Reader tell me I have 10 posts to read. That, I can do.
I'm struck by how big the subject of blogs has become. A blog itself is one thing, but the world of products, tools and services that accompany blogs is very nearly overwhelming. Subscribing to a tag on flickr with RSS is not something that tanslates easily to people new to blogging.
There has been a great mix of cool tools and practical points today. Here are some highlights in list form...
Darren Barefoot and Susie Gardner related these points about blog writing...
- It's not about the most traffic, but the best traffic.
- Blogging is all about telling stories.
- Personality must be revealed for a blog to be successful- give of yourself and be honest
- People will (or should) feel that they know you through your blog
- Show real knowledge- about what? it doesn't matter as long as there is passion and real information.
- It helps to be a good writer who can write quickly.
- Humor is helpful if well-placed
- Be conversational, warm, truthful, honest
- Darren criticizes only people in the public domain
- Linking is good for your blog, your readers. Remember to link appropriately.
- Write often and be consistent in your frequency
- Use good, clear, titles. Clever is good, but not for search engines.
Along with myself and Will Pate, Kris Krug did a rapid-fire review of sites like:
Will finished up our section with a review of how he's turned his site into a "digital lifestyle aggregator" or "DLA" if you want to be Web 2.0 buzzword/acronym compliant. Basically, this means that his site is now made up of posts from on a number of other sites.
6 Trends in eMarketing from Robert Scales
- Blogs will continue and gain more momentum
- Web 2.0 tools will proliferate
- Accessiblility thanks to US section 5.8 www.webaim.org
- Open Culture - increased access to open platforms
- Meta Data - folksonomies and tags
- Podcasting - Media powered by individuals
Susie Gardner - Marketing and PR in the Blogosphere
- Consumers don't trust traditional advertising methods
- Consumers don't believe that all businesses are run by liars
- The idea that a consumer can actually talk to people within a business is refreshing
- Blogs open new opportunties to communicate with the market
10 Strategic Benefits of Blogging
- Search Engine Optimization
- Direct Communication
- Brand Building
- Competitive Differentiation
- Relational Marketing
- Exploit Niches
- Public Relations
- Reputation Management
- Position as Expert Status
- Build Trust
Good stuff. The first day is just about over and I'm venturing out into the weather right now. It's supposed to get to -13(f) tonight. Surely the coldest weather I've felt...
Rain City Studios and the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) have put together a very, very cool event. It’s called Blogs-n-Dogs and it’s a four day event in Banff, Alberta, Canada that includes workshops and information sessions on topics like:
- Managing your public life online
- Blogging and the arts: Web 2.0 independent music publishing, photographers and artists
- Personal blogs and portals
- Blog writing style
- How to make money with your blog
- Building your community and traffic, connecting with your tribe in the blogosphere
- Traditional PR, marketing and the "blogosphere"
- Social networking tools, blogging tools, aggregation and technology: RSS, XML, podcasting and video blogging
If you're not familiar with Banff, it is one of the most beautiful settings on the planet, tucked into the Canadian Rockies. See these Flickr photos.
I’m honored to be a part of the august faculty that includes:
Alexandra Samuel, Social Signal
Darren Barefoot, Head Geek, Capulet
Eric Rice, Audioblog.com
Kris Krug, Event Blogger, Sales Director, Bryght
Lee LeFever, Principle, Common Craft
Robert Scales, Managing Director, Raincity Studios
Roland Tanglao, Chief Blogging Officer, Bryght
Will Pate, Sales and Marketing Director, Raincity Studios
So why is it called "Blogs'n'Dogs" ?
You can join us for an optional dog sledding excursion in the world famous Canadian Rockies on December 6. We will be enjoying the wilderness and scenery with some friendly huskies. Come out and take part in a two hour tour of the breathtaking Canadian mountain landscape. Be sure to bring all your winter gear. This will be an opportunity to get to know the faculty and have some fun!
The event will be December 4-8th and registration is now open. It's gonna be fun! Tune into the Blogs'n'Dogs web site for more information.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been working with the folks at Microsoft, like Bill Reid, Korby Parnell and Jonathan Grudin, to learn more about blogging at Microsoft for a related project at the company. Here are some of my broad observations:
- Microsoft is serious about blogging. They have support from the very top and the biggest reason for the support is the increasing value of transparency and putting a human face on Microsoft. See this video of Steve Ballmer.
- The demand comes from individuals. More than a couple of times, I’ve heard quotes from employees saying “I’m tired of Microsoft being called an evil empire�?. Employees see blogging as a way to show Microsoft is a different and more human company.
- External blogs outnumber internal blogs 3-1, which is vastly different than other large companies that are blogging like Sun, IBM and Intel. Why? See point #2 above.
- Blogging at Microsoft is very hands off. The biggest policy is “Don’t be Stupid�? and the PR and Legal teams have adopted a very open and supportive approach to blogging.
- There are people within the company like Betsy Aoki and Korby Parnell who are driving the blog strategy and working every day to educate and inspire people to understand blogging.
- Two Microsoft blogs that represent the most popular forms of blogging are the personal bloggers, like Raymond Chen and the Team blogs like the IE Team Blog. A number of teams are looking to follow in the footsteps of the IE team.
- Microsoft Research has been studying blogs and how and why they are used within the company. See Lilia's posts about her internship at Microsoft Research.
- It’s working. The company is seeing the blogs play a positive role in public relations and communications with the market at large. This is adding to the executive support.
- There are very few, or perhaps zero fake bloggers or blogs.
- You can see for yourself. The majority of external Microsoft blogs are found at MSDN and TechNet
Despite what some may think about Microsoft, I see the blogs as a demonstration that the company is trying to change. Blogging is becoming a part of the way they do business and if you ask me, they are doing it the right way through organic growth and openness.
Nancy White and I have been continuing our work on the March of Dimes "Share" online community. We're about to finish a second phase of updates- the last for a while. What a great project.
We have been writing our story of helping to build the Share community over the last few weeks and were honored to have the paper invited to the Global PR Blog Week 2.0, going on this week. The paper is called: Surprising Partners: Adding Blogs to an Existing Non-Profit Community. You can read it, along with many other interesting papers on the site. Enjoy!
About: Global PR Blog Week:
The Global PR Blog Week 2.0 is an online event focused on how new communications technologies are changing public relations and business communication.
And no, this isn't the big announcement I've been hinting about. :)
Tags: marchofdimes, prblogweek, shareyourstory
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