by Jason Boom on February 24, 2010
The other day I was reading a forum post on the Warrior Forum. Someone brought up how much it costs to host video files for their membership site. They were paying far more than I had imagined anyone would for a service like that. It never really occurred to me that a video streaming service would be an expensive part of a membership site. With all the bandwidth videos consume, it’s actually not a huge surprise.
As a small business owner, I often times have to put together instructions for using our Virtualmin server interface or simply to show a new client how to login to an FTP account. I use screencast software to create instruction videos that I blast out to clients having trouble with a particular feature of our hosting solution. Video for small business with Viddler will be a solution I look into in the future for doing more beefy tutorial broadcasts, and if I ever develop my own video product.
AOL Video has grown a lot since I last visited their site. I was looking for a video for another web property earlier today and stumbled up on their service. I hadn’t been there for a while, but realized just how much of a selection they have to offer too. I’m a bit tired of some other websites video selections.
In creating a business with online components, video will be taking the place of spoken word. In my hosting business, it’s allowed us to remotely assist customers who have a problem doing anything with our services. I’m a hands on kind of guy, and while my business may be small, I love to give big support.
by Jason Boom on February 3, 2010
I’ve written them. I’m sure you’ve written them. The post you’re not sure you should put out there. You might have thought long and hard about the consequences. The pros and cons balancing like two eggs on a scale. One may hatch an influx of traffic, the other a hated thumbs down from readers. This article looks at some sketchy topics for blog owners. This doesn’t mean these topics cannot be covered, but they should be done so with kid gloves.
You could also look at this list as a viral marketing article ideas. These topics have controversy tattooed all over them. They’re guaranteed arguments — the barb wire wrapping a bicep.
1. Abortion – not many blogs can hook a reader with the abortion debate. Of course, a Christian, atheist, political blog could shuffle this topic in, but it would be hard for a MMO blog to incorporate this ageless debate.
2. Politics — outside of democratic, republic, green, and independent blogging platforms there’s not much room to talk politics, or at least argue them. It runs the risk of alienating readers. The recent election coverage probably saw a large amount of readers jumping ship over support of one candidate over another.
3. Religion – Most talk of religion can be handled quite nicely, if its wrapped in historical accuracy. The problem begins when spouting opinions of religion. Other times, little things, like analogously comparing a religion to something inane can also spark controversy. Who wants an inquisition on their hands?
4. Mac vs. PC — The commercials put out by Mac steal most of the thunder here. For tech blogs, this is the fan-boy dream post. What can be a well informed article might turn into a comment bashing haven for weeks afterward. Engadget had to turn off their comments for just this reason recently.
What topics do you steer clear of on your blog? Is there really anything you won’t discuss?
