We have been informed by a few individuals that getting a Spidvid account through using their private beta code was a somewhat challenging and tedious process. Our team has been testing Spidvid’s platform for many months now and while we didn’t want to go into public beta until next month at the earliest, it just didn’t make sense to stay in private beta if getting an account was hard for the average person.

So as of today Spidvid is now in public beta where anyone can get an account in two easy steps. First go here and create an account, then simply click on the link that you receive in the confirmation email and you’re good to go.

While in your account for the very first time you should then click on the “Edit My Profile” link to upload a profile picture, tell your story and provide key information about yourself. Copying and pasting profile text from your Facebook or LinkedIn account is the quickest and easiest way to create a fantastic Spidvid profile.

We will be sending out an email shortly to everyone who requested a private beta invite but doesn’t currently have an active Spidvid account. If you are in this category you can save us an email by creating one now.

Tomorrow there will be a blog post written about how to pimp your Spidvid profile to get the most out of your Spidvid experience, so if you aren’t already subscribed to our blog via email or RSS be sure to do that now to stay in the loop.

A series of how-to posts will follow over the coming weeks and months to help everyone in the community get familiar with Spidvid’s platform, and we intend on creating The Ultimate Guide to Spidvid e-book later this winter as well.

So again, if you need an account you can now get one right away without waiting. Isn’t instant gratification a great thing!

Once you create your account and spend a few minutes putting together a quality profile, you should then post a video production proposal (if you’re a video creator), or look for projects to bid on (if you are a writer, actor, director, …). That’s where the true magic begins en route to creating new videos for the world’s viewing audience to watch and share but we will go into more depth on this important topic with a blog post next week.

For now just start off simple by getting a Spidvid account, the rest will fall into place in time.

Jeremy Campbell News create a profile, get an account, new account, new community, new media, new user, private beta, public beta, social media, spidvid, video production

So here we are on Christmas Eve and as promised we are going to begin sending out invites in a few minutes from now, how exciting!

Since we are in private beta our admin will be approving all submitted proposals and uploaded videos to make sure no spam or pirated content gets through. We expect that when we reach public beta (next month in January or February) we will allow the Spidvid community to regulate projects and videos to improve the entire work and content flow of the platform.

So for now check out how things are with your account, create a quality profile, connect with the other very early members, post a video production proposal (if you are a video creator) and our admin team will begin approving proposals on Monday December 28th. If you have any questions, feedback, or ideas be sure to contact us.

If you aren’t on our request list right now but want to be included in the next round of invites, visit our site, click the ‘join our video production community’ button on the left hand side, and provide us with your email address so we can make you a Spidvid insider soon.

Merry Christmas everyone from myself and the entire Spidvid team. An exciting 2010 lies just ahead!

Jeremy Campbell News happy holidays, invites, Merry Christmas, new media, online video, private beta, production teams, proposals, social media, spidvid, video production, web 2.0, web video

As the holidays rapidly approach we are excited to be soon sending out private beta invites to everyone who’s on our list. If you are a video creator, actor, director, writer, producer, story teller, animator, or have other talents for producing video content, then be sure to visit our site and submit your email address.

We intended to send out invites last week but the relaunch of UnleashVideo, the exclusive video sharing site for our private beta, has taken longer than anticipated to complete. The good news is that additional tweaks and features are being added to Spidvid in the meantime, so your initial experience with our platform will be better than even we thought it would be.

The plan now is to send out the invites on Christmas Eve (December 24th). Who said that gifts shouldn’t come before Christmas Day anyways?

If you get time over the Christmas break between some much needed R&R be sure to take the time to put together a solid Spidvid profile. We accept copying embed codes from YouTube and other sites where you may already have produced video content and information about yourself. Also don’t be shy to do some copying and pasting from your favorite social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn to save time creating your Spidvid profile.

There will be a blog post next week where we explain how to pimp your Spidvid profile because it’s so important as a video creator needs to show that he or she has leadership qualities to build and manage remarkable production teams which results in quality produced content, and it’s important for professionals so that creators can see what qualities and talent he or she can add to content. So if you’re not already subscribed to our new posts by email or RSS be sure that you are one way or another, or you may miss out on some really exciting stuff.

Do you want an early Christmas present this year? Quickly head over to our site, click the ‘join our video production community’ on the left hand side, provide your email address, and look for an email from us on Thursday.

One last thing… good luck with your last minute Christmas shopping, if you are already done then give yourself a big pat on the back you non-procrastinator you.

Jeremy Campbell News actors, beta, Christmas, collaboration, community, connection, directors, embed, Facebook, gifts, holidays, invites, join, LinkedIn, narrators, new media, presents, producers, production team, social media, social networks, spidvid, video creation, video creators, video production, writers, YouTube

What you typically see today in the video creation process are video creators and producers paying out money in hopes of seeing a good ROI on their content investment, within a few weeks or months down the road. One of the largest expenses if not the largest expense are individuals who make the real magic happen. This is expected because having the best cameras, lighting, and sound equipment is important but without the right combination of talent using those assets it’s all worthless.

The model that most creators and producers use is to pay out money for everything, retain 100% ownership in the video content, and work hard to at least break even, and ideally turn a profit. But what happens when creators and producers view the individuals on their production team as partners (giving each member or key members a small content ownership stake) instead of employees? The result is that these individuals now have a vested interest in seeing the video content succeed, and are even more motivated to do a remarkable job.

Traditional actors, directors, writers, and story tellers may see this approach as more risky because they aren’t being consistently paid like they are used to, but the concept of building up content equity that could return a far higher amount (over time) than they would get from a paid contract has to be intriguing. And it also helps to build up their content portfolios which can act as valuable leverage for other future opportunities.

It vastly reduces the financial risks on the part of creators and producers because each individual member invests their time with the optimistic belief that financial compensations will come their way as the content goes through the distribution and monetization process. This leaves the creator to only have to spend money on the things that aren’t human beings. Now planning those production budgets have to sound much more fun than crunching all the numbers for each employee and contractor on the team.

Active people in the video production space may not like the approach mentioned here because they like their safe paychecks, but Spidvid has been developed and targeted towards the new crop of up and coming star actors, directors, writers, and story tellers, who want low barriers to entry with lots of potential upside.

Spidvid levels the playing ground for anyone who believes that he or she can add value to the video production process, and the end result which is the quality content. After speaking recently with a friend of mine who’s a real estate agent, he made it clear to me that he wanted a Spidvid beta invite because he believes that his writing ability is pretty good and so writing a script for a short film peaked his interest. His script without individuals to carry out his story has a low amount of value and can get little traction, but because he can connect with the talent he needs on Spidvid his video can actually get produced, and that’s something very exciting for him. I’m sure there are stories like this all over the place and it will be interesting to see how other types of people with day jobs feel about the new opportunities within the video entertainment space.

If you are a creator or producer who would like to partner up with individuals then Spidvid would be valuable to you, and if you are an individual looking for a production team to join then you may also fit well within our community. Visit our site, click the ‘join our video production community’ on the left hand side and provide us with your email address. We send out the first batch of invites next week so be sure to have your name included on our request list.

Jeremy Campbell Visionary actors, collaboration, collaborative team, community, connecting, empowering, leverage, next-gen media, online video, partnerships, private beta, production teams, relationships, social media, social movement, spidvid, video creation, video creators, video production, web 2.0, web video

Spidvid is a social platform to be leveraged for creating quality video content that can be monetized, allowing each production team member to be compensated. We assume that people who have been following Spidvid for the last couple months understand this concept, but wanted to dedicate a post for those who don’t.

On YouTube anyone can be a creator by posting videos directly from their webcam, or uploading them from their Flip or smartphone video cameras. The majority of this content gets a very low amount of views, interaction, and it can’t be monetized. Spidvid’s community will be well represented by the YouTube generation, but this group needs to grasp the model of connecting with others to improve their video production value, and to understand their purpose for being a member on the site. Content that tells a story accompanied with production value is the ideal content format to produce on Spidvid, and the sponsors and advertisers who want to place their messages within the content demand that as well.

In our early beginnings the payout to production teams will be $1/1,000 views starting after the first 1,000 video views. So if a video attracts 1,000,000 views it earns $999, as the math shows 999 x $1 = $999. That $999 would be shared between the production team members according to the compensation breakdown set by the project’s creator. As mentioned before we intend to make the compensation process within Spidvid more collaborative so that the team as a whole decides what the breakdown should be.

The goal for next year is to build out the distribution and monetization network and to change the payout structure from a CPM model to a revenue sharing model. Under a revenue sharing model the distributor, ad network, the production team, and Spidvid will all share whatever revenues are attracted for each video. For now we have the above compensation model in effect mainly to communicate early on that we believe that a lucrative financial model will be successful as we move forward within the new media landscape.

To get your very own private beta invite visit our site, click the ‘join our video production community’ button on the left side, provide us with your email address, and expect to get your invite code next week.

Jeremy Campbell News advertising, collaboration, community, compensation, content, CPM, Flip video camera, internet video, member, monetization, new media, online video, production value, social media, Spidvid.com, sponsorship, story, user generated content, video production, web 2.0, web video, webcam, YouTube