Each month: 168 million online viewers watch an average of 10 hours of video online… in just 30 days. That’s 26 Billion views every month and climbing… We at SunPop keep our finger close to the pulse of online video, but some of the statistics explored over at ReelSEO have been surprising even us.

The first, “Online Video Continues Ridiculous Trajectory”, provides a nice synopsis on some ComScore numbers. A few choice quotes pretty much makes my point for me.

…the average video watched is now 3.8 minutes in length…

In terms of web visitors, 3.8 minutes is an eternity, and most webmasters would kill for an attention span like that. If everything else we’ve said before today hasn’t already convinced you to jump into online video, then zero in and focus on just this metric. What would it be worth to you to hold your visitors’ attention for four minutes?

It’s no wonder, then, that the article “Video Marketing Tops Search Marketing as a #1 Priority for Brands and Agencies in 2010?” reveals that among companies across a wide range of sizes, the very top priority for their online marketing strategy leading into 2010 is to emphasize web video.

All of the above are simple facts.

Our take: The stampede to online video is a no-brainer when you think about how cheap online video is versus traditional alternatives, not to mention the higher impact it can have as your potential customers’ active mouse clicks mean it reaches the right person at the right time. The question isn’t whether it’s time you add video to your website, the only question is who do you trust to produce a quality video that makes you shine and connects with viewers…

We couldn’t even make this stuff up. We made a new video (and a new friendship) with a recent client named Jean Carpenter Backus, and ever since she’s sent us multiple emails each week as more and more people are “meeting” her through the video and reaching out to her to make things happen. We don’t usually share the specific positive responses we often receive, but the latest blog entry talking about Jean and her video is so perfect, and the story so compelling, that we just have to share the link.

The post: Ricci Neer writes “How I Met Jean Carpenter Backus”

Big things tend to happen when you have as much to offer as Jean does and you simply help people see it for themselves… Do You?

A quick followup on the last post about online videos for SMB’s. For years most marketers and business owners have tossed around the phrase, “Content is King.” That’s all well and good, but what does it really mean?

Bitemark takes a short swing at the answer.

Effectively dealing with the infinite choice of consumers on the web involves a mind-shift from old marketing where commercial messages are thrust on people. The messages that work best on the web are chosen by them. There’s a huge benefit to making this mindshift – it’s easy to create the content that your customers are looking for.

What they call “Useful Information” is probably better expressed with the word “Relevance”. A idea championed, refined and systematized by my friends, Jeff & Bryan Eisenberg, and their latest bestselling book. Being mindful of what information people are looking for, and actually delivering it in an intuitive way is a simple idea on paper, but tricky to implement in practice. Hence their book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?, which I highly recommend.

In regards to SunPop Studios’ unscripted video work, the “Relevance” is aimed squarely at relational customers who need trust, confidence and familiarity when deciding to do business with a person / organization. That entire production process is designed to communicate the real and unposed value of worthwhile people, ultimately making the decision to do business with them an easy one.

I came across a decent little article at www.seopointz.net about online Video for SMB’s. (small / medium businesses).

It’s been said before, but bears reiterating: Online video can level the playing field for the small business people of the world, by providing an affordable and interesting way to showcase points of differentiation from bigger competitors.

An important thing they don’t touch on is the value of good content and production values. The burgeoning potential of online video technology is usually going to get attention in blog posts and articles. But at the end of the day, Content is Still King.

Still, it’s a simple, clear and worthwhile explanation why many businesses and marketers are getting serious about online video.

A cool little documentary about how the internet came to be. Not bad for people needing their daily dosage of geek.

Now that our studio is beginning to partner with producers around the country, the face of SunPop is evolving. As a result, this blog will focus more tightly on online video, social marketing, and related internet / business info.

This narrower scope of blog topics will allow SunPop partners, evangelists, and prospective clients to more easily find relevant information for their businesses.

Ideally, this blog will help aggregate SunPop’s “professional” points with research, articles and marketing insight. You know, just all that stodgy stuff people want to find before they decide to spend any money.

The quirky, fun, silly, personal bits will find a home at SunPop’s upcoming Facebook Page. We’ll be sure to update this post with a Facebook link so you knuckleheads can keep tabs on us.

The illustraneous, fantastical, and splendiferous, Jake works at SunPop. In fact, he is a partner here. Jake is so regularly awesome that we’ve decided to produce episodes that give small glimpses into his greatness.

Bask in the glory…

We’re truly thrilled to finally announce the successful launch of our expansion recording studio in Toronto, Ontario. After working with Rick Henry and Debbie Armstrong for many months already, I can say with confidence that they are recording clients who display the same level of unposed authenticity and comfortable credibility that typifies a SunPop production. These people really get it, they’re already out of the starting gate and making great shoots happen.

I’ve long recognized that the travel barrier is the main obstacle holding most people back from choosing to hire SunPop Studios, and so it’s really exciting to have such a skillful team in the fifth-most populous municipality in all of North America.

We’ll still be doing all of the actual editing here at SunPop Austin, so my personal studio will continue to work our magic on the Toronto footage using all the techniques we’ve invented and refined over the years.  This frees up Rick and Debbie to give their undivided attention on optimizing the conversational recording experience into the best it can possibly be for our clients.

If you’re interested in knowing more about Rick, Debbie, and the expansion studio, why not watch both of their online video introductions on the SunPopCanada.com homepage and the About Us page and meet them yourself?

Steve Cooper discusses the rising need for quality website videos, citing myself and two other experts in his four page article. It’s absolutely worth the read if you’re interested. I was particularly tickled by the first statistic, indicating that the website video industry is expected to nearly quadruple its earnings in the next four years.

This enormous growth is itself compelling news for business owners, as Edward Royce says, it’s time to get serious about web video “because competitors are going to do it.”

The article also reiterates the same point I’ve been making for years: a lot of people claim to be a production studio, pointing to their cameras and computers as evidence, but none of that matters to you and your potential customers if they use mediocre techniques to make impotent videos.

So check the article out if you want to get a better sense of where Web Videos are right now and where they’re going, as well as gaining some insights into the process.

Early this month, Time Warner Cable began a trial in a Texas city of something called “Internet Metering”. The basic idea is that you only get so much internet usage each month, and you may be fined if you exceed your monthly allotment. They’re selling different packages with different caps, starting at $30 for 5 gigabytes.

Proponents argue that broadband is a limited resource, and those who use more should pay more. That’s awkwardly near a truth, to an extent, but the current setup already provides for different price points based on different speeds, without relying on arbitrary and artificial limits on usage. Those people who just want cheap internet rates in order to check their email and maybe access one or two webpages never canceled their dialup accounts with AOL. For the rest of us, who enjoy spending time online, we’ve shown we’re willing to spend a few extra dollars so we can do what we want with our connection. We don’t want to have to ration out our supply of internet like it’s on the brink of extinction.

The reason why these experiments into download caps pose no real threat to online video is simple: free market competition. If today’s Time Warners and Comcasts had a full and perpetual monopoly over broadband internet service, then high bandwidth uses like online video, distributed business conferencing, and multiplayer gaming might all have something to fear. Fortunately, people have already gotten used to worry-free internet usage, and there’s no putting this genie back in the bottle.

As long as people still demand the speed and uncapped usage that they’ve enjoyed for years now, companies will rise to meet that demand. Not too long ago, Grande Communications, a regional Cable Internet/Televison supplier, became available to my neighborhood, offering 14% faster download speeds compared to Timer Warner for $5 less each month. You can probably guess who I’m now using to post this blog.

America has long since learned its lesson regarding monopolization of basic services. Just think back to Bell Telephone, and exclusively privileged electric providers that refused to wire unattractively located neighborhoods. Few still doubt that high-speed internet is on it’s way to being as widespread and “necessary” as telephone service, and with such tremendous market potential, the Grande Communications of the world are just waiting for Time Warner to make a serious misstep. More often than not, America’s cable infrastructure (the actual wires running to your house) are decades old, ripe for replacement with today’s technology from newcomers who see proven profitability.

Unlike some limited resources like water, there is no fixed ceiling on how much internet usage can be provided to a city. Yes, certain broadband pipelines are presently reaching their maximum potential, but we can lay new, bigger pipes, as soon as there’s enough market demand to make it worth the investment. The internet will continue to grow as more users are expanding their online habits, and more companies are using the net to make a buck.

Despite the lobbying potential of the internet supply giants like Time Warner to get special legal protections to keep their bloated policies afloat, there’s an even greater number of companies that have finally figured out how to make the internet work for them. Apple TV and Netflix are each partnering with Hollywood to stream hi-def movies to you on demand through your broadband connection. You can count on these big boys lobbying congress as well, demanding that high-speed internet be allowed to grow naturally. Uncle Sam won’t be likely to browbeat Americans into accepting shoddy internet service from providers that have trouble keeping up.

I’m not at all worried about the continued growth of the internet and online applications like video, but if you own a piece of Time Warner, maybe you should be.

Here’s a good New York Times article on the Timer Warner decision if you’re interested in finding out more.