You have a great blog or website you have been building for several years, and you wonder if there is another way to present your content or share the experiences you have had over the years.

We all have knowledge we can share, but some people aren’t making the most of the content they have already created.

With the ease of video sharing, plus the breakdown of barriers to self publishing, there is a world of people you can reach by repurposing your existing content.

Here are some options:

eBooks

You can create a collection of your best blog posts or articles you have written, and compile them into an eBook that you post for people with Kindles and Nooks to read. This is an additional audience that you probably would not reach through your blog or website.

Instead of writing a 75,000 word book, create smaller, focused books on specific topics, and create a series where you charge less per title, yet make more overall.

Photographers and artists need to realize that now all the readers have color options, and that all the Kindle apps for devices show books in color. Now you can combine your art and photography with commentary about the topic of the photographs, or with poetry or other short stories to make a valuable book.

Podcasters can get their recordings transcribed; there are a number of good services out there for around $1 per minute. You can then add information to the notes, add a resources page, and you now have an eBook ready to be published.

Podcasts

There are a number of podcast directories, as well as iTunes, where you can submit podcasts. Don’t be afraid of podcasting. It is simple to do, so just try it out to see if you are comfortable with the medium.

There are free programs to record your audio on your computer. The most popular free program is Audacity. Creating a podcast of your own existing material can be as easy as reading it into a microphone on your computer.

Videos

If you aren’t creating videos, you should be. No matter what your content is, you can create a slideshow, PowerPoint, and narrate, or put to music.

YouTube is the second largest search engine, and among teens, it is the number one search engine. Videos may seem like more work, but they will get your content in front of people that probably won’t see it otherwise.

If you are creating videos, then you can get them transcribed and create eBooks out of them.

This is just the beginning of what you can do to repurpose content you have already created. Evergreen content can be recreated in many formats and get you and your site exposure that you only got from search engines.

Deborah is a podcaster, blogger, photographer who helps people share content in exciting new ways.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 17 here – http://issuu.com/affiliatesummit/docs/feedfront-17

FeedFront issue 17 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2012/2

Most of us know that online video is exploding, and want to capitalize on it. But before we think about how, we need ask why.

The only two reasons for posting video online are ego and money. Ego can be the desire for attention, to show-off, make someone laugh or capture snippets of life’s kaleidoscope. If you doubt this, one thing everyone checks after posting a video is the number of views. Views = ego.

Money is straightforward. Some create great content to monetize via advertising. Others use video to directly or indirectly sell something. This makes sense, because an online video can be like a virtual sales person. It’s an excellent way to attract, engage and inform customers.

This combination of ego and money is important to understand. If you are camera shy or uncomfortable “selling”, then video is not for you. Either that or you split the ego/money equation wherein a partner is in front of the camera and you just handle the money.

Also, we should understand the only two reasons people watch video. As Jim Kukral, the BizWebCoach, points out, it’s the same two reasons people use the Internet: information or entertainment – and that’s it.

We need to remember this as we ask the next question:

How can affiliate marketers use online video?

First, we can break up much of online video into two formats: long form and short form. This isn’t just about length of time, but about continuity of attention.

If a person is doing weekly “webisodes” with regular characters, vlogging, or hosting their own show (i.e. Gary Vaynerchuk), I would argue these are long form regardless of how many minutes each video is.
The value of long form is building audience over time and then converting that audience into revenue. This can be from ad revenue, affiliate commissions or speaking engagements in Las Vegas. All of which are viable.

Short form is more granular. It’s about three minutes or less, informs and/or entertains, and can stand on its own (no history or context is needed). This is the vast majority of YouTube videos.

If using short form to sell, there’s some corollary to traditional TV commercials, but you’ve got a little more time and can try the “mini Internet infomercial” route.

This is great if your video is atomic down to the product level (one video = one product). You also have the advantage that the video can be surrounded and enhanced with additional information such as images and text.

Unlike TV though, the screen format is tighter, and I would argue it’s even easier to click away then change channels. This is why you’ve got to keep “inform and/or entertain” in mind!

Lastly, you can try a “hybrid” approach. In this scenario, the videos themselves are atomic and stand alone, but you build a longer continuity of attention by establishing yourself within a vertical.

Ken Price is President and Founder of ShopWatchBuy.com, an affiliate friendly video enabled marketplace.

Download the entire FeedFront issue 5 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue5.pdf
FeedFront issue 5 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00category/issue-5

Five tips to getting started

1. Get over yourself. You look how you look. The rest of the world sees you as you are, and you look no different on camera. Quit worrying about how you look and start filming yourself. Nobody is going to criticize you.
2. Smile. Nobody wants to see a grumpy person on camera. Be pleasant and inviting. Make your viewers feel welcome.
3. Solve problems. People want to watch videos that can help them. Consider making “how to” videos where you show people how to do things you might be an expert at.
4. Don’t sweat the equipment. Anyone can make high-quality videos with inexpensive video cameras and lights.
5. Just do it! The ONLY way to get started is to just do it. Your first videos will not be perfect, but remember, nobody is doing perfect videos right now. Remember too, your competitors are either going to beat you to it, or envy you a year from now. It’s your choice.

Jim Kukral is a video marketer and veteran online marketing expert. You can read more about Jim at www.jimkukral.com. Or learn more about how to make videos at www.onlinevideotoolkit.com.

Download issue 1 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue1.pdf.

We’ve wrapped up the first issue of FeedFront magazine and we’re sending it to the printer.

Issues will be mailed in June 2008. Here are the articles in the first issue:

• Editors Note: Missy Ward & Shawn Collins
• Five Ways to Evaluate a Merchant’s Landing Page: Dan Murray
• Pros & Cons of Utilizing Multiple Networks: Brian Littleton
• Twitter Grabs Attention: Lisa Picarille
• GTD in Affiliate Marketing with Web 2.0: Sam Harrelson
• Affiliate Marketers Give Back: Missy Ward
• Online Video Advertising: Tim Carter
• Nobody Would Use a Search Engine with Paid Results: Dan Gray
• Building Profitable Customer Relationships by Following These Simple Email Axioms: Tom Kulzer
• Are You the Next Super Affiliate Blogger?: Zac Johnson
• Ad Networks, Vertical Ad Networks, and Affiliate Networks: Peter Figueredo
• Affiliate Manager Compensation: Shawn Collins
• My 3 Favorite Blogs You May Not Visit: Wil Reynolds
• My 3 Favorite Tools You May Not be Using: Wil Reynolds
• Get Off Your Butt and Start Making Videos: Jim Kukral

Visit http://feedfront.com/free-subscription/ for details on getting your free subscription.