Let me tell you from experience how important it is to know how to shoot good digital video with your camcorder before going on that vacation or filming that big event. When I was getting married my sister offered to film the happy day for me with her new camcorder, I agreed as it would save money on the wedding as a videographer could get quite expensive.

Let me tell you how wrong I was, the digital video was dark, shaky and blurred anytime she went into zoom or moved around the room. The sound was off and muffled and it was more of a headache to watch rather than a joy. In a nutshell, I wish I spent money on a good digital video shooting.

I don’t want people to make the same mistake that I did so to spread the word on my learning experience I would like to pass on some great tips on how to shoot good digital video with your Minidv camcorder.

Tip #1 - Do not record while walking or moving about as the digital camcorder cannot stay focused on a moving object. Choose a place to stand and begin by recording a starting point for a few seconds before moving onto the next object. Slowly and carefully pan the camcorder to the next point of focus and hold there for a few more seconds before you stop shooting.

Tip #2 - Avoid excessive zooming of objects, not only does it kill the camcorder battery faster, it can give the viewers a crazy headache. If there were a moment you’d like to catch up close, stand still and take your time while zooming and shooting video, also try to avoid any quick motions, as the image will blur.

Tip #3 - Make sure that the lighting around you is bright enough and do not point the camcorder lens directly facing sunlight, not only can this damage the video camera lens, it will also blacken the images making for an unpleasant movie. If you plan to be indoors, I suggest you invest in a camcorder light attachment that can easily be placed onto the video camera and turned on if needed.

Tip #4 - Last but not least, my favorite camcorder accessory by far has to be a Tripod. You can buy a cheap little mini table tripod for simple videos or you can invest in a larger stand up tripod for longer shooting of video. By using a tripod when recording, you can be assured that your images will not be shaky nor will the movie look amateur.

Chris Vorelli is a successful writer with info on all types of camcorders. Read reviews and other useful information on dvd camcorders,VHS camcorders,HD camcorders, and more. © digital-camcorders-reviews.net

The newest media wave to hit the online shore is video. Individual emails abound with links to “the funniest video ever,” or blurry clips of new babies or birthday parties.

Businesses, on the other hand, have largely been left standing on the shore, scratching their heads and wondering if there’s any real value to be earned from diving into making their own live video broadcasts, video emails or video on demand infommercials. Here are just five of the many ways video adds to the bottom line of any company.

1. People remember more of your message
While people generally remember 10% of what they read and 20% of what they hear. But, they’ll remember as much as 50% of what they see and hear together. Before anyone can act on your message, they need to process and remember it.

2. Increase responses by up to 30%
A call to action is much easier to follow if it is actively delivered. Sound and motion are powerful action drivers, especially when they are delivered by your sincere enthusiasm and passion for your topic. Companies who have made the switch to video email and on- demand broadcasts have reported response rates jump as much as 30% following a broadcast.

3. Build your credibility
People do business with people they know, like and trust. When you cut through the technological barriers of the Internet and put yourself online, you put “your self on the line” as far as viewers are concerned. The time it would normally take you to build a relationship with a potential customer can be dramatically shortened as a result.

4. The cost savings are obvious
Anytime you can avoid the high costs of sending someone on the road to meet with clients or attend a meeting, the bottom line savings are immediate and obvious. In addition to any costs associated with attending a meeting, you need to factor in travel costs covering airfares to taxis and tolls, hotel costs, meal expenses, and even your internal costs to process the expense paperwork.

5. Soft cost savings multiply returns
Spare yourself the productivity drain and the physical and mental tolls travel takes on your company’s road warriors and you could enjoy “soft” cost savings that dwarf your hard dollar travel costs. Want an example? Look at your own calendar for the past month and count up just the hours you spent traveling to and from meetings. Multiply that by your hourly wage, and then by the number of employees in your firm.

If reasons like these don’t help you convince the reluctant decision makers in your company to add video to your communications mix, please be patient with them. Historically they are in good company. There were many who claimed the smeary images on hard to handle rolls of paper called “faxes” could never function in place of an original document. And who, they asked, would ever want to spend more time typing an email message when they could so easily pick up a telephone and place a call?

About the Author
Liz Micik turns your video learning curve into a fast and easy profit curve in her newest book, “Cue the Director: 10 Simple Steps to Online Video Success.” Visit www.powerpresenters.com to have free weekly video tips emailed to you.

You want to make sure you leave a lasting image on the minds of the “hiring” companies. They may not hire you immediately and it may be months down the road, but if you put together a professional and entertaining video clip that portrays you as an expert in your field, then they will remember you!

•Have a “comfortable and “warm” background setting

•Your demo video should always show you speaking within the first minute or so of the video; you want to catch the audience and the energy they are generating such as clapping, laughing, listening carefully and possibly jotting down notes

•Your first anecdote or presentation needs to be the most important thing you have; you only have 2-3 minutes to WOW the attention of the “hiring” company (meeting planners, associations, organizations, and groups)

•Show yourself open on the platform; don’t “hide” behind anything

•Energy is the toughest thing to capture on film; create energy with your body movements (use the stage fully) and pitch your voice firmly

•Try to tape the type of audience that you enjoy the most to work with

•When taping make clear what you are an expert on and use your best stories

•Show your excitement about the topic you are speaking on

•Use a little humor

•Tape at least 6 -10 minutes long

•Keep any one-on-one interviews short

•Avoid taping empty seats or things that may be distracting

•Use music underneath your presentation to add energy

Your video tape / CD / DVD cover

•Packaging: should be very attractive with a full-length picture of the speaker

•Top: the title / topic of your program should appear notably

•Middle: leave a blank space reaching to the bottom - this is where you will attach an eye-catching label with your contact information

•Bottom: the speaker’s name should go across the bottom of the cover

•Back: list 3 or 4 of your best testimonials - keep them brief

Wendi McNeill is owner of Charli Jane Speaker Management Services. She provides professional and affordable virtual business support to authors, consultants, public speakers, coaches, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and meeting planners, assisting them with representation, mentoring, marketing, and administration. Subscribe to Call for Speaker Proposals and sign up for her monthly ezine at http://www.CharliJane.com you can also email Wendi at wendi@CharliJane.com

I’m often asked, “I have no video training but I want to put video on my website to help promote my products and services what can I do?” Well the answer is simple. If you can shoot a home movie you can put a video clip on your website. Now the first thing is to not be scared of the camera. A good sales person needs to be able to speak clearly and present their product in a manner that everyone can understand and enjoy. So with that in mind turn on your camera, cell phone, or whatever video capturing tool you have and begin shooting. But here are a few tips for making your shoot successful and getting it up on your website.

1. Speak clearly, and so that everyone watching can understand what your saying and what your product is about.

2. Make sure you have enough light so that you and your product can be seen. But be aware that you can also have to much light. So the best thing to do is to test your video and the area your going to be shot in. Make sure you look natural.

3. A microphone is important and you need to be heard. If your using a mini-dv camera you can easily get a microphone that can attach from the camera to your clothing. Use make sure you can’t see the wire that connects the mic and the camera during your video.

4. Have FUN! No one wants to see a sour face on camera. So make sure you are having fun and that you SMILE. The better you come across on camera the more people would want to buy your product or services.

5. Don’t use big words in your video presentation. Keep it short sweet and simple.

6. Once you’ve finished your recording, watch it. Make sure it’s what you want and something that you’ll feel proud to have on your website.

7. Now get the clip to your computer. Your camera will have instructions on how to upload the footage. Now you can get fancy and use one of the high end video editing products. But those take a long time to learn. So if your on a PC use Windows MovieMaker and if your on a Mac use IMove and edit your clip to your licking. Don’t use to make crazy effects keep it about you and your product.

8. Now once your clip is edited you need to output it to a web file. If your on a PC then output the file to a WMV. And if your on a MAC then output your clip to a .MOV file.

9. Upload it! If you don’t have server space then use http://Video.Google.com or http://Youtube.com. You can easily upload your video to these services. Not only will you have the code to embed the file to your website but you will also allow others to see your video and your product who haven’t been to your site yet. It will be as easy as CUT and PASTE to an HTML page.

10. Promote your video clip. Include links to your clip in your weekly newsletters. Send your clip to your friends, family, and business associates. Let them see the work you’ve done and ask them to pass it on to other friends. Son you’ll notice that you have a ton of visitors watching your video and more traffic to your website.

About the Author :

Michael Street is the former Multi-Media Manager for http://BET.com. He has produce over 10,000 hours of online video. He currently runs the urban travel website http://www.GreasyGuide.com and is also a creative consultant on various online TV business ventures. He can be reached at greasyguide@gmail.com for further assistance on getting

Article Source: www.iSnare.com

It is a little known fact that WEDDINGS are the #1 growing industry in the WORLD! Every year, billions upon billions of dollars are spent on Weddings. The question I must ask is why are you not getting into this business?
Here are just a few statistics to get your feet wet,
There are somewhere around 2.5 million weddings every year in the United States Alone!
So… about $40 BILLION is spent on weddings every year in the U.S.
Some believe that number is low! The # then rises to be around 80 BILLION!

Today’s average couple will spend roughly $18-30 THOUSAND DOLLARS ON THEIR WEDDING!
“Start a Business in the Hottest Growing Industry around”

Wedding Videographers are making fortunes. For some, like myself, this has become a full-time career. Imagine this, you have 8 Saturday Weddings Booked in the summer charging a modest $2,500 per Wedding. You Just netted a cool $20,000 for a few Saturdays of Summer Work! BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!
Industry Statistics also say that more and more Weddings are being held outside the Summer Months! This means that Videographers are in demand year round!

Noah Martin of http://www.videographybusiness.com has been in the business for a while now and doesn’t see himself leaving any time soon. “It’s a growing business and its fun too! In just two years I’ve tripled my customer base and had to hire student videographers.”

Visit http://www.videographybusiness.com for more information.

This is an exciting opportunity and time to get into the business.