Video is visual judo.  It is also SO much easier to show someone how to knit and purl in a video.  That is my next project.  Stay tuned!

This is a video about our High School to Art School portfolio program.  As we think through our next videos, I am realizing how much better we can communicate the passion of what we do through via video.

I read a great guest post by Michael Hoffman on Beth Kanter’s blog about viral video.  Michael hits the nail on the head when he says that often nonprofits overlook the importance of having a video strategy before seeking to produce a viral video.

He says,

“Where you should start with online video is to make a commitment to using this new medium to connect people to your work. You need to think about what the important and interesting things are and ask yourself, “How do we document this work?” You need to ask yourself why do you think what you do is important, and ask your staff as well. You need to then capture – on a regular basis – those important and interesting things. If you can find the funny stories, the creative metaphors, and turn your issue on its head once in a while, so much the better. But please, stop focusing on making a viral video and start focusing on making a viral cause.”

There is no question that visual storytelling is a powerful way to tell your story.  The only question is how are you going make it work best for you.

Here is what I am encouraging my staff at the Queens Council on the Arts to do for our viral video strategy:

1. Think in story form.
2. Know what you need to tell your story – interviews, images, background shots, etc.
3. Always travel with a video camera.  Don’t have one?  Check out the Flip Video Spotlight Foundation.
4. Capture images.  Edit later.
5. Brief is best.  Focus on creating a series of short two to three minute videos.
6. Edit using a simple, free program like Windows Movie Maker or I Movie.
7. Make videos actionable.  Using the annotations feature on Youtube is a great way to get your viewers to do something – donate, sign up for a newsletter, visit a website, etc.  Watch Greg Hoffman’s video about annotations and apply this great feature to your video.
8. Link and love. Tell everyone about your video on Twitter, Facebook, your website, blog, e-newsletter etc.  Make it easy to share.
9. Remember that attention is the new capital.  Invest creatively.

What else is going on that’s video worthy?  What are you doing?