I’ve been waiting the launch of tubetorial for the past few weeks since hearing about it from Brian from Copyblogger (one of the gang behind tubetorial).
Tubetorial is a video based tutorial site which will focus upon web development and internet marketing.
It’s launched with three videos:
- What Bloggers Need to Know about the Law (part of a series on Blogger Law 101)
- Why Sell Information (part of a series on 7 Steps to Creating and Selling a Niche Information Product)
- Be the Master of Your Own Domain! (part of a series on How to Build a Profitable Home on the Web)
The topics are excellent and I’m looking forward to future episodes of each series.
First Impressions
I’m not sure what I was expecting from tubetorial but here are a few first impressions:
- Helpful Topics – as a blogger I obviously found the topics appealing. They’re obviously starting with some fairly basic level topics, but they are all practical and helpful.
- Well Designed – Chris is a great designer and it’s reflected in the layout and design of the site.
- Good Presentation – the first three presentations are all well thought through and scripted. I did feel at times like I was listening to someone reading a script (I’m much more used to presentations that are free flowing and spontaneous – its just my personal preference. I’m sure they’ll get a little more natural over time though as they become more used to making the videos). The visual elements provided interest. I liked that it was more than just a dull screencast and incorporated talking heads (in one of them), flowcharts, pictures, screen grabs etc.
- Usefulness – the actual content is useful. It’s early days of course as they are only 3 videos in, but so far I can see that a lot of bloggers (especially those towards the beginning of their journey) will find tubetorial helpful.
I’m no video making expert but the videos are of a good quality. I’m sure they could be a lot better polished with time, but if they want to keep pumping them out they obviously need to find a balance between quality and quantity.
Video is hot right now and it’s a smart move to be exploring it – but if blogging has an advantage it’s that it has lower barriers to entry in terms of bandwidth (and cost) and time/expertise needed in putting together content.
In my own miniscule dabbling with video I know just how much work it can be to put together – it’ll be interesting to watch how tubetorial does in finding this balance and remaining a profitable venture.
It looks like they’ve already found some sponsors which will help get things off the ground – ads are both in the site but also at the end of each tutorial.
Some key questions for whether tubetorial will catch on:
• Will the demands of producing video cost more than the income it generates?
• Does the medium of video lend itself to the audience they’re after (ie web users are notoriously known for being lazy scanners of content)
• Can they keep the quality of content up?
My feeling is that all three questions can be answered with a yes – but it will be a challenge and something I’m hoping tubetorial will succeed with.
All in all it’s a nice launch for tubetorial and I’ll be watching on to see things progress for them. All the best Chris, Brian and Samantha!
Martin from ePublishingDaily has written a review of tubetorial also.
Nice review Darren and thanks for linking to my review.
I think they’ve tapped into something here. Many are more visual learners than via reading. I know in some instances I’d much rather learn by watching a screencast.
It’ll be good to see how they go with this – so that we can jump on board if it works :-)
Now when are we going to see an info product from you, Darren?
Certainly looks interesting..might have to try it out.
LA Acting School
[…] Via ProBlogger. […]
I noticed that Martin felt that the production lacked ‘spit and polish’ (funny how that instantly brought back the smell of GPs and Kiwi Parade Gloss) and you too Darren seemed inclined to hint that the production wasn’t quite what you were expecting.
I wonder if we’re subconciously comparing video blogging with what we see on television. Could it be that no video blog is going to achieve the same look and feel as even the roughest television programme?
Perhaps we should look at video blogs in a different less subjective way?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m no fan of video blogs at all – I’m one of those who learns by doing and not watching but it was just a thought that crossed my mind.
If you’ve seen other video blogs who does Brian & Co’s compare to those?
[…] Das neue Portal tubetorial will Bloggern und Web-Developern Wissen und Tipps in Form von Video-Tutorials vermitteln. Diese Videos werden als Screencast im Flash-Format ausgestrahlt und haben eine gute Qualität. Es bleibt abzuwarten, wie sich das Projekt entwickelt. Via problogger. […]
Stuart – I hear what you’re saying, and it does make sense. We’re probably so spoiled by traditional video nothing will probably measure up.
But then these are not really video. They’re more screencasting w/ voice (apart from blogging law which had some video). So it’s not as advanced as it would be with video. There are really two aspects to get right: the screen presentation and the voice recording.
It’s really hard to compare, because I’m comparing these with paid-for screencasts I deal with daily. When someone’s directly paying for something they automatically expect a higher standard.
These ones are somewhere in the middle – I’ve seen far worser paid-for ones that have been successful, so they’re definately on the right track.
I think the thing with video quality here is that the site looks quite professional in comparison to e.g. other video blogs which more or less look like a hobby.
Thus you might expect a high video quality. I don’t care that much though as long as the content is good.
And I think I am also more learning by doing but sometimes it’s nice to have a short video presentation to explain the basic steps to get something to work so you have a basic understanding (e.g. when it’s about programming with a new tool or so). So far I’ve only watched one episode and the content seems different from that anyway in terms of explaining a tool.
What I actually miss the most at that site is that there is no Quicktime video RSS feed. Thus I cannot add it to iTunes or FireAnt and actually I was wondering why there seem to be no episodes in that stream when I subscribed via the latter.
I think this could be improved so that I also can watch it when being offline like on the train.
Besides that it seems to look quite promising and I will definitely check out some more videos.
Thanks for reporting :)
I’m a huge fan of Rocketboom and part of its appeal is it’s homemade quality. I think video blogs work well on a personal level but if your trying to portray a professional blog as an expert in some field any rough patches may dent your credability.
Darren,
Thanks for the kind words and the review! In your post, you mention that Web users are notoriously lazy scanners of content, and I certainly agree with that point. One thing that I’d like to add, however, is that people tend to gravitate towards mostly-passive sources of entertainment.
Sifting through a blog entry for quality information is somewhat labor-intensive, but simply clicking “play” on a video and letting things happen is more of a passive experience. Of course, you have to follow up that initial response with both entertainment value and quality, and that’s really our focus.
You’ll notice that our videos tend to be about 5 minutes long, and that’s absolutely by design. Thus far, many screencasts that I’ve come across tend to be rather lengthy, so I think this is one area where we’re possibly doing our audience a favor. If we can capture their interest up front and deliver a useful, entertaining experience, then I believe we will accomplish what we set out to achieve with Tubetorial.
Thanks again for the review!
The interesting thing for me, having produced a bunch of video products, is whether they can make a profit with the “supported by advertising” model as opposed to selling the videos, as I do.
[…] The first, Be the Master of Your Own Domain! covers how to get started. Pro Blogger reviews that videos. […]
I just watched the one on selling information products. There was enough in the outline to get me back for the next installment.
I’ll probably drift back and watch the others also.
Thanks
[…] If you take your blog serious (I do) then you will be interested in a series of video tutorials available at Tubetorial.com. I came across this nifty new site via ProBlogger, a wonderful site itself. […]
I think tubetorial has done a great job so far. What they’re doing will only open doors and ideas to other aspiring videographers who want to have their work viewed. Great idea!
[…] You can find reviews of tubetorial at Problogger and ePublishingDaily […]
[…] You can find reviews of tubetorial at Problogger and ePublishingDaily […]
[…] To read more reviews, check out ProBlogger.net and ePublishng Daily […]