Twitip

by David Turnbull of Mellow Business – Follow him @dturnbull

Whilst Twitter is the hottest tool at the moment to build a brand, interact with like minded individuals, and have content go viral, online video is the hottest medium. Wouldn’t it be great if we could blend the two?

Luckily, the guys from Fliggo saw that the connection should be made and so they launched TwitVid.io, a web application which they quite frankly stated was designed to become “the TwitPic of video”.

Although the service appears to be getting some traction since its recent launch, I’m still yet to see many of the people I personally follow use video within their Twitter stream, which is a shame because a short video communicates so much more than 140 characters can.

You can take advantage of this current lull however (because I’m sure the service will explode in popularity) and differentiate you and your Twitter stream by injecting personality into your Twitter stream.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Make recording videos convenient. TwitVid offers quite a few ways to upload your content but that doesn’t mean you can’t make video tweeting more convenient for yourself. Pick up a Flip camera if you don’t already have one, use a mobile phone that can record videos and has email capability and get a webcam for your computer. If there is always a video recording device nearby you’ll be much more likely to actually make a video.
2. Start recording videos now! The sooner you get going making videos for your Twitter followers the quicker they’ll feel a more personal connection with you. This is your chance to be riding on top of the wave of video via Twitter.
3. Be comfortable. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m actually camera shy. I’m also a fan of online video though, so I’m working on overcoming that fear. If you feel uncomfortable in front of the camera like I do, then pick up the books Psycho-Cybernetics and Win The Crowd. They’re very helpful in making you feel more comfortable with who you are, and less stressed in front of an audience (even if the audience aren’t actually watching you live). You need to enjoy creating videos for Twitter otherwise people will pick up on it and you won’t stick with it.
4. Don’t replace your current tweeting with video completely. You want your followers to be almost anticipating your next video, but that anticipation will be dilluted if you upload videos that are 10 seconds long every 20 minutes.
5. Find a balance of content and tight focus. One of my recent videos was showing a sudden bump in my Feedburner subscribers after I’d started using TwitVid (my Twitter followers also jumped up). That’s something that didn’t deserve an entire blog post, but would’ve been hard to communicate properly within 140 characters. You don’t need to make your videos epic monologues with profound statements – just keep them interesting and to the point.
6. Change your surroundings. If you make all your videos from the same chair people will wonder if you have a life away from your desk. Don’t give them that misconception. Personality is derived from your uniqueness, so if you love hiking and you hike to the top of a really tall mountain then that is probably a great place to record a quick video.
7. Control your surroundings. Different audiences expect different things. If you run a website about being frugal but then in all your video tweets you’re sitting on a golden throne whilst stroking a panther, you’re sending mixed messages. This really shouldn’t be an issue if you’re authentic, but if you have the chance to have a backdrop that is more in line with your audience (a surfer would have the ocean, a CEO might have a fancy office etc) then there’s no reason to not make use of it.

Want a quick summary of what you just read? How about this: if you have something to say, make use video to express your thoughts, are comfortable with who you are, and have some consistency, your Twitter stream will stand out from the crowd.

I hope to see a lot more people making use of twitvid.io soon.