Some individuals are pretty good at writing content. They produce new articles at the rate of one per day. However, let's surmise that you are 'challenged' in this regard and can only manage one a week. That is still acceptable, since you can use submission software and plaster it all over the Internet. You can also post it on sites such as Hubpages and Scribd, with very little extra work. Once you're on a roll it does not take long.
What if we could turn this article into a video at the same time? Most of the hard work has already been done! Some people don't find this a challenging task at all; they just whip out a Flip camera and shoot a short video of themselves. However, what do you do if you don't like appearing in front of a video camera?
Let's do it without a video camera! One solution is to use purpose-made software such as Online Video Story. However, if you really want control over the process, then I suggest you use a proper video editing suite such as AVS Video Editor, Pinnacle Studio, Corel MovieMaker or Sony Vegas. I happen to use Pinnacle Studio, but there are also products by AVS, Sony and Corel, to name but a few vendors.
This is what you do.
- Take your article and cut it down to about one sentence per paragraph. I prefer between 5 and 15 sentences. Sentences should consist of only a few words and should ideally be no longer than around 10 words each. Short sentences are better since they are easier to read.
- Create a PowerPoint slideshow. Copy and paste your sentences, in sequence, onto plain backgrounds. I use white lettering (Arial 44pt) on black because it is easy to read. Don't forget to put a URL and a call to action on the last slide. When done, 'Save As' individual JPEG files (just confirm when prompted) so that you end up with slide1.jpg, slide2.jpg and so on.
- Now you need some JPG pictures to place between the text slides. Use your own, or check out MorgueFile or Stock.xchng for royalty-free pictures. Be aware of copyright issues if you use other sources. Save your pictures as picture1.jpg, picture2.jpg and so on in the same folder as the text files.
- Run your video editor, then drag and drop (and alternate) your text and pictures on the story line. Adjust the clip lengths to taste. Let it play so you can verify that it looks good, and adjust the times where necessary. We are almost done!
- Select a transition effect and repetitively drag the chosen transition icon to the juncture between successive frames. Don't waste time messing around with this, just select one and use it all the way.
- Finally; the music. My video editor (Pinnacle Studio Plus 12) has a music library built-in. As an alternative you could look for royalty-free music online. Start with Jamendo. Do not use tracks off CDs as you could be sued for copyright infringement. Now drag the music file onto the soundtrack, trim off any excess at the end, and do a fade-in and fade-out at both ends. It should not take you more than a minute to do this.
Your video is just about complete!
There is one small task remaining. Your video still has to be 'rendered'. I just select Flash (FLV format) and make some coffee while Pinnacle churns out the video for me. And that is it!
Deon H Reynders is the CEO of Visionary Marketers and lives, with his wife and an assortment of four-legged and feathered friends, near Toodyay in the Western Australian countryside. Deon is an accomplished marketer, electronics engineer, coach, trainer and published author. You can read more on the conversion of articles to videos here.
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