Being a good GURU!

If you're sensitive to anything that may appear to be shameless self-promotion then now might be a good time to look away! Not that I think I'm blowing my own e-trumpet; this is more a case of self-as-an-illustration!

I YouTube. A lot. As a result I made the UK YouTube Partner programme when they opened it up for applications earlier this year. (For me the perk was not the slight chance I might make money from my videos but the fact I can upload banners to my YouTube profile!) I am also a Guru! YouTube let's you select a title that you think fits your content. (Mine doesn't really qualify me from Comedian or Musician, and Guru sounded more exciting than Director!)

For the last week I've been in the 'Most Viewed (Today) - Gurus' chart. It's a global top 100. Why? Well it's not that my videos are gaining thousands of views. They're hitting 50 - 100 in the first two or three days. It's because I've posted a video every day for at least the last seven days. I'm witnessing the triumph of quantity over quality!

So that's today's lesson. Sometimes making videos is better than making a good video. It does depend on your objectives but making the 'charts' is one way to gain profile and attract new audiences. And if that appeals to you I suggest you get uploading!

Push-me-Pull-you

I read all the Doctor Dolittle books as a child; I watched none of the Eddie Murphy movies as an adult! I can't tell you if it appeared in the films, but the books had a great animal called a Pushmepullyou. If I remeber right it was like an antelope with a head at both ends.

Today I was caught in a discussion about the comparitive merits of post physical mailings to a supporter base or using digital distribution. Someone commented that the problem with the digital domain is people have to come and get it - actually navigate over to your website. What about RSS? Obviously, this arguement is flawed, but perhaps only in regard to early adopters.

But then I'm not so sure.

I like design and I loved gettig things that can gather dust on my bookshelf. I can glance over my shoulder and see a postcard from Wembley Stadium, that ping-pong paddle from Mini, the Manhatten Portage label from my bag: the list goes on. However, unless you break into my house you'll never see these things. Digital advertising doesn't disappear once it's be posted though a cyber letter-box. It still exists for more to find and theres a good chance that some who received it will remix it and serve it up to a fresh audience.

Pushing or pulling,it is, of course, the quality of the content that matters most.