Like millions of Americans this year, I was very excited to get out an vote for the first time. In fact, I woke up this morning and couldn’t wait to put on my helmet, head down to my local polling station, and spread the good word about CHANGE. Unfortunately I got caught up with a few support messages and had to wait until later in the evening. Naturally I assumed the lines would be ridiculously long and I’d have to wait in line for hours. Not so! I breezed through the line in minutes. Unfortunately there was a misspelling with my last name (Mann?) and I was asked to cast a provisional ballot. It’s probably no secret, but I wrote in ‘Local Video‘!
I never thought I’d see the day when they let the Matman vote. This is truly the land of opportunity.
This news was simply too exciting to withhold, so we’re not even going to try. We are proud to announce that WellcomeMat is now iPhone-ready BABY! Ok…ok…we’re almost entirely iPhone ready baby. The alpha version of our iPhone app is now live at www.WellcomeMat.com/iPhone. The way that it is coming together is as follows:
-We have converted about 1/5th of all our videos to H264 format (the only video format that iPhone’s will play). This means that your channel videos may not be showing up right now. If you are upset about this, please write Apple and tell them how lame it is that they are not yet supporting flash video, as they inevitably will have to and are just dragging their feet.
-Once we have completed all conversions, you will be able to send iPhone users (and soon all mobile users) to your WellcomeMat channel, or individual videos for viewing.
Example: property hunter pulls up to the curb of your newest listing. They love the house! So, they stroll up to the sign to get some contact info and BOOM! “View the video of this home at: http://www.wellcomemat.com/iphone/BostonVideoTours”
Disclaimer: this is the first version of our mobile solution(s). You’ll likely hit some snags. But, right here in the collective brain of Team WellcomeMat is a mobile video platform that is going to absolutely change the name of the local game. If you have any feedback/questions, as usual, get in touch already!
It is with great pleasure that we announce a partnership with Turnhere. To us, a partnership of this nature has always made sense, and here’s why:
As most people already know, WellcomeMat does not plan to make money on video production. However, after having lead the charge on the match-making between local video producers and clients, what we often realize is that many of our national-level prospects face a steep climb when trying to quickly find local pros in many areas at once. We have very strong coverage in some areas (these production companies know who they are), but not-so-great coverage in others. WellcomeMat is very proud that we have become known as a match-maker amongst other things, but we often get ourselves in a bind when we need solid coverage in hard to cover areas. Turnhere is a one-stop solution when these things come up, and the best part is that we know for a fact that quality will be the end result.
How does this effect our current video production companies?
To a large extent, our partnership with Turnhere helps our current base of video production companies. For one, they are posting gigs to the production board already. Two, they bring a recognized name to our directory, and help to set the bar in the quality arena, making our system more trustworthy. Three, we can stick to our focus of being the technology company, the marketplace, and video management system that we have always been. Our focus in these areas is not a trivial thing for local video pros: the better WellcomeMat is at leveraging our strengths, the more business that we’ll drive to local producers.
Other than the aforementioned benefits, the game on WellcomeMat doesn’t change: video producers are still being positioned based on their level of local activity and the trust that they have gained over the years on WellcomeMat.
Thanks very much to the Turnhere team for putting their trust into WellcomeMat.
2. Google has been trying to find a way to earn a return on the $1.65 billion it spent on YouTube with a variety of ad formats. Saul Hansell’s New York Times article, “Google Goes Gawdy With YouTube Ads” covers one of Google’s recent efforts to balance advertising with consumer/pro generated content.
Say Goodbye to YellowPages – Hello to Online Video
Borrell and Associates released a new report about the future on Print Yellow Pages titled, “Say Goodbye to Yellow Pages.” with some interesting predictions regarding where revenue will migrate. According to the report, they estimates that the yellow pages industry will loose almost 40% of their annual revenue over the course of the next 5 years. Guess where the revenue will go?
Has Mobile Local Search Finally Arrived?
Michael Boland at the Kelsey group has Local dialed in. In fact, the man’s probably got the word ‘Local’ tattooed somewhere. This week, he talks about the drive to get mobile search out of the ‘early-adopter’ stage and into the mass market. Got an iPhone? Then you might have already seen this trend coming. Then again, you read the B.Roll. We knew there was something special about you.
Free Custom Professional Videos for Local SMBs?
Woh! Citysearch is offering new customers the option to receive a free, custom, professionally shot and edited 60-90 second video vignette of their business. The video will be featured on their Citysearch profile page and customers will have the ability to embed their video in their own website, a quantum shift in old-media-empire thinking. Bravo to CitySearch for a heavy investment into local video!
Inman News Announces Innovator Awards Winners
The Inman Innovator Awards honor forward-thinking technologies, Web services, business models and innovators in online real estate, brokerage and media companies. Congrats to all the winners and nominees! Did you know that WellcomeMat was an Innovator nominee in 2007 for Most Innovative Web Service? We’ll be back!
What does it mean that my family’s new phone book has sat at the end of the driveway for the most part of a week, walked over a couple times, and run over many more times, as if it is some direct mail heap? Yes, it means that we should have picked it up sooner (thanks for mentioning it). But, after we pick it up, then what? Recycling pile….where else would we put it?
I used to love the yellow pages, and I still do, but only because of their continuous success at making the transition online. To them, I could very well be viewed as some web vendor, peddling my goods at the potential expense of their companies. Not the case! I am here to commend the many local director/yellow page companies that are building their bridges into the heart of the web.
‘Tis exciting times in which we local video folks live.
Local Online Video Advertising To Reach $1.5 Billion by 2012
Local video is more than a way to showcase your business and property—it is becoming a hyper specialized arena for advertising. Read up on the future of advertising in internet video. Viewers are tired of slick marketing campaigns, and local video is complicating advertisers’ traditional responses.
Exploring the local scene in Portland, Oregon
Even MTV is delving into the local video space. The network, paying homage to its roots, just released a montage of footage, exploring what makes Portland so unique. Portland thrives because its focus is local. MTV is beginning to get it—you should, too!
BBC to expand its local video output
Amid recent announcement from the BBC of its plans to increase local video coverage online, others in the online media sphere, specifically in radio, are less than pleased. The web is ready for more localized content; being resistant to change will only hold you back.
Next Online Gold Rush? It’s All Local, Baby
TV Week’s columnist Daisy Whitney writes what we’ve known for quite sometime: the future of online video will be shaped by localized content. It’s inevitable. Read her column for her take, and then jump in the game—the future is now!
Technology on the horizon – The Future of Video Search
During Research@Intel Day, journalists were privy to a demonstration of the future of video search—the ability to search internet videos, frame by frame. Outlandish claim or the future or video search? Read the article and decide for yourself.
