> Examination: YouTube Top Content Providers

Please visit
Social Brain Wave
@ facebook to learn more about how a group of us are
helping promote the works of the individual members to
a level that is beyond what could be done alone.
http://www.facebook.com/SocialBrainWave/info

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This is the investigation, analysis, and dissection of the top youtube content providers defined by those with the most subscribers.
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=44191

The intent is that by understanding what elements go into the concept, design, execution, and promotion of market valued content that we ourselves may adopt some of these practices in developing our own content.

Why would we want to do that?
Why would we even care?

For my own reason -
From the light research I've conducted in crowdsourcing at the beginning of the filmmaking process and the marketing and promotion of the completed film products the key is to come to the table having already cultivated a following.
> Cold calling for fi$cal attention is grossly ineffective.
> Bring an interested crowd to your crowdsourcing campaign.
> Bring an interested crowd to marketing and promoting your finished film.


I would like to see some of the reasons others here at IT are interested in top youtube content providers.
Zen Steve?
Lucky Hardwood?
Icba Pictures?
Paul Griffith?
Any one else?



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http://vidstatsx.com/youtube-top-100-most-subscribed-channels

http://www.statsheep.com/p/Top-Subscribers

Looks interesting: http://willvideoforfood.com/

http://willvideoforfood.com/2012/10/19/why-are-ray-william-johnson-and-maker-studio-separating/

http://willvideoforfood.com/2012/05...ios-machinima-maker-full-screen-and-bigframe/
OVS = Online Video Studio
OVC = Online Video Company

http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Pr...eleases_March_2012_U.S._Online_Video_Rankings

www.reelseo.com/online-video-studios/

http://newmediarockstars.com/2012/09/which-youtube-network-should-you-sign-with/
This looks waaaaaay more complicated than just hanging out your shingle and hassling your family, friends, and forum friends to watch and subscibe.

Getting a little off the path with this one: http://videoproductiontips.com/equipment-needed-to-set-up-a-simple-video-studio/
 
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From a marketing perspective, logos have to have a few things going for them.
They have to be read at all different sizes. This means clarity is VERY important in your choice of font.
They have to be read very quickly, so once again, clarity is key.
They have to be recognisable - Someone has to see that logo and say "Oh, that's soandso".

This is mine:
MetalRenardLogo.png

I'm not saying it's "the best" or anything, just saying that was my goal when I had it made.
Also I have an avatar, the fox, that is useful for occasions when I can't have all the writing there. It's recognisable alone too. A handy feature.

I admit, I made a few compromises with the backwards "L", but I think people can read it really fast anyway, and quirks like that never got in the way of bands like KoRn. It probably makes people do a double take which means they're spending more time looking at it and memorising it.

Later on I even had my logo animated by a friend! The fox winks and all that.
If you're interested.
 
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From a marketing perspective, logos have to have a few things going for them.
They have to be read at all different sizes. This means clarity is VERY important in your choice of font.
The Font I chose seems to be simpler to read compared to your logo. Also I am going to make many different sizes for whatever we need, such as thumbnail size, video size, website size, etc.

They have to be read very quickly, so once again, clarity is key.
I agree with this and I know I had it change color where the wave covers the words but I feel it is still quickly readable

They have to be recognisable - Someone has to see that logo and say "Oh, that's soandso".
Do the brain and the wave not fit this? These be condensed into a smaller avatar sized logo alone from the text.

So any specifics on what I should change? Cause I feel it fits most of what you said and I do agree with everything you said.
 
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Oh, I wasn't criticising, just putting some ideas out there that the marketing gurus could tear apart if I was wrong. :)
If you agree then that's great!


P.S. Just bought my new $2000 PC, i7 quad core 3.6ghz processor, 16 gigs Corsair 1600mhz RAM. Will arrive Thursday. I don't know how long it will be until I'm ready to get working on serious video making but it shouldn't be more than another month! :D
 
So any specifics on what I should change? Cause I feel it fits most of what you said and I do agree with everything you said.

A 3D style graphic brain would be nice and if the "wave" were to be more alive... maybe a neon sign tube look, and then adding something social like a row of theater seats or the curtains of a stage around the whole graphic??? Font choice?
Not tearing down, just some ideas. I'm glad you put something out there.:)
 
just putting some ideas out there that the marketing gurus could tear apart if I was wrong.

If you're talking branding, that's one thing, but you're talking about the logo. I really have no idea how to make a logo look good, that's more of a design artists job.

A simple logo won't make a brand, but it'll be a small step in the right direction. The biggest thing that I can suggest is that it's significantly different from other branded logo's that are out there. I don't remember the science but colors are really important about portraying specific emotions so that may be something else to consider. (Eg Red for food, blue for professional level trust, and a lot of the more edgy colors to portray trendy etc).

On the whole scale of it, logo's aren't that important on the whole branding issue. Look good, identifiable and don't use colors that portray the wrong emotions (or are going to go against your themed colors) and move on to the more important parts.

Yes multinationals pour a couple million into designing a logo (that may last a decade or more), though you're talking a couple million into a company that sells multiple billions of dollars a year is a drop in the ocean to show you that it's worth maybe spending .00001% of your annual revenue on it, if you're serious about it.

Can you think of Comedy Central's logo? They're bigger than we'll ever be for a youtube venture. If you cannot remember their logo, consider how big they are and how unimportant their logo is to you.

P.S. Just bought my new $2000 PC, i7 quad core 3.6ghz processor, 16 gigs Corsair 1600mhz RAM. Will arrive Thursday. I don't know how long it will be until I'm ready to get working on serious video making but it shouldn't be more than another month!

Nice rig. What video card? HDD? out of interest? Dual/quad monitors?
 
The video card is secondary to me since I do audio more than video, but I bought a well looked after, little used graphics card from a friend of mine. The AMD 6850, but the special "black" edition which is boosted and more powerful.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1543/1/

The primary storage is actually an SSD, not an HDD, so the system and programs will run much faster - 256gb Crucial SSD (550mb read, 300mb write speed, good latency over all), plus a second HDD, a Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 1TB drive. Also one of the fastest at that price range.
Just a single monitor at first, I'll get another later when I'm not broke any more. Haha
 
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Nice, that system should run you well. Half decent video card too.

I found that having an SSD drive really speeds up parts of your system, especially booting. You're going to love it. Just like you'd love dual monitors if you got that too ;)
 
New Video up for 2013. Sunsets and Moonrises... Should go live right after the ball drops..EST.


Sunset to moonrise 2012, a relaxed journey.

Its a small collection of photo's followed by a time lapse and some video... any thoughts? Thinking of doing another one with bird photo's, then mushrooms...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2cXupRE-FY
 
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Third Channel Upload! I think I can do this!

Places of Nature: Water & Stone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfw5cq1_w_c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfw5cq1_w_c



ICBA, that link is giving me a bad address.
Lettuce try this'n: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2cXupRE-FY


Also...
We probably ought to start a different thread for Social Brain Wave, right?
Since this has become the de facto thread to post update for SBW events, and we're looking forward to MORE material in upcoming weeks, there needs to be a place to post relevant material other than on a thread titled "> Examination: YouTube Top Content Providers."
 
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Definitely a new thread. We also need to feature a couple videos on the SBW youtube channel
Cool.

Which forum? http://www.indietalk.com/forum.php

Distribution, Sales, & Marketing - You've finished your film. Congrats! Now what? Because we're distributing & marketing what we've shot specifically for YT?

or

Filmmaking Misc. - If not covered by a forum above, post here. Because frankly this is kinda weird?

Start linking those "Places of Nature" uploads.
I think I'll be able to put one out AT LEAST once every two weeks + I've got a few derivatives in mind that'll allow for content expansion.

Gracias!
 
Cool.

Which forum? http://www.indietalk.com/forum.php

Distribution, Sales, & Marketing - You've finished your film. Congrats! Now what? Because we're distributing & marketing what we've shot specifically for YT?

or

Filmmaking Misc. - If not covered by a forum above, post here. Because frankly this is kinda weird?

Start linking those "Places of Nature" uploads.
I think I'll be able to put one out AT LEAST once every two weeks + I've got a few derivatives in mind that'll allow for content expansion.

Gracias!

It really depends on whether we are seeking new members right off the bat. Both fit, but The former gets more views.

I believe Miken is in charge of uploads. I can, however link all the videos to theDangertheatre. I created it as a mirror of sorts to try different techniques before they went live on Social Brain Wave...
 
Hello all -

Hope you all had a good holiday season. Now, trying to catch up here.

I've started to assign videos to playlists on the SBW channel.

We have a finite number of playlists, so if people could provide a default selection on what you would like most of your videos placed under that would help.

We have several nature videos - so there is a Nature playlist.
I'm creating a Music playlist next.

How many narrative categories do we want to go with? Any other high level suggestions?

I will plan on placing new videos as featured for at least 24 hours and then just rotate through them unless someone has a different preference.


Ongoing discussions - that is a two part question. Where do we want to discuss internal things and where to we want to discuss external things. I would think the Distro / Sales / Marketing would make the most sense for external pieces. I don't know if it makes sense to take the rest of the discussion off of IT.

Unless I missed it, we do not have a consensus on a logo. Is that correct?

Monetization - my understanding was at this point we would not be doing any monetization on SBW properties. Is this correct? If so, we should take the ads off of the website.
 
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It really depends on whether we are seeking new members right off the bat. Both fit, but The former gets more views.
Maybe if one of the mods could weigh in. Knightly? Chilipie?
Whichever is most appropriate and respectful to this site is what I'd prefer.
No need to rude to the party's host, you know? :)


I created it as a mirror of sorts to try different techniques before they went live on Social Brain Wave...
Oooo. Smart thinking.
And actually much akin to point and purpose of SBW, anyway - to get our act together learning how do our thing pretty good before making a spectacular fail of ourselves.
Always keeping it on the down-low until... ;)
 
Hello all -

Hope you all had a good holiday season. Now, trying to catch up here.

I've started to assign videos to playlists on the SBW channel. Yay!

We have several nature videos - so there is a Nature playlist. Works for me, for now. ;)
I'm creating a Music playlist next. Rockin'.

How many narrative categories do we want to go with? Any other high level suggestions? Beyond my scope at the moment.

I will plan on placing new videos as featured for at least 24 hours and then just rotate through them unless someone has a different preference. Fine by me.


Ongoing discussions - that is a two part question. Where do we want to discuss internal things and where to we want to discuss external things.

I would think the Distro / Sales / Marketing would make the most sense for external pieces. Yeah, I'm getting kinda figity about using IT for things better discussed at SBW's very own FB page.

I don't know if it makes sense to take the rest of the discussion off of IT. Largely. Just keep a low profile over here.

Unless I missed it, we do not have a consensus on a logo. Is that correct? Correct. I don't think anyone's anywhere near falling in love with any of the first offers. I think we can wait a bit on that. No rush. Might have to settle for a TEMPORARY token text-only typography option until a more solid entry and consensus is available.

Monetization - my understanding was at this point we would not be doing any monetization on SBW properties. Is this correct? If so, we should take the ads off of the website. Correct. Please, make it so.

picard-make-it-so-1.jpg


:D
 
I upload music every week as I have for a year, I just don't post it here. :)
I made this one for the new year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH4XPRrGoB4
If you want me to make you a short list of tracks to put into one of your playlists then I can do that. All you'd have to do is click "add video via URL", it's that simple, though I'm sure you know that already, sorry.

As for the marketing side of things, have you all "liked" our Facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/SocialBrainWave
We only have 7 right now so I expect some of you aren't on there yet. Also, once we're up and running, you guys should send me videos you want me to link on the Facebook page every now and then. I'll only link 1 video a day tops, though 1 every other day is best. If you can give me some interesting information too it would make people more likely to watch your stuff.

We shouldn't advertise SBW for now, I think, we don't have any solid content on the YT channel and we don't have any regular contributors either. I plan on making a new tutorial every fortnight for the SBW channel with in-depth versions for my own channel. If people want basics they can watch just SBW, if they want explanations and exercises I'll provide those on mine.

Also, no-one has asked me for intro jingles yet... https://dl.dropbox.com/u/28025798/My Music/MetalRenard Jingle Demos.mp3 (samples - just some I've been asked to make though nothing is really out of my range) so ask away!
 
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metalrenard -

Yeah if you have a set that you would want to include historically that would make my life easier in the short term. I'll add all new items going forward of course and work at categorizing everything else.

I'd like to take you up on a jingle. As someone who is musically functionally illiterate, what kind of data would you need i.e. similar tunes to what I'd like?

WRT promoting SBW - I think we get through the kinks, get some content posted, and then actively promote.

I'll plan on taking all of these items to facebook going forward.
 
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