The plain truth is that more people are likely to watch a video about a subject than read a paragraph about it. People want to be entertained. You really do owe them some entertainment if you want to give them a sales pitch. Sound fair really.
I’m going to show you a bunch of free and low cost services that can make video creation really fun!
Creating Videos
There are a variety of tools to help you make YouTube videos that are unique, professional, and interesting. Rather than simply recording your own video using your video camera, you can use one of the following tools to create a more customized video.
- Animoto.com Just upload your images, and Animoto creates video slideshows with music.
2. Xtranormal.com You can choose an animated actor or character and a background for your video. When you enter your video text, the actor lip-syncs the text in an animated video.
3. Stupeflix.com Upload images, text, maps, video clips, and audio. Once everything is uploaded, you can create a video that you can share on YouTube directly from your Stupeflix account.
4. GoAnimate.com Create animated videos by choosing a theme, dragging and dropping characters, and recording lines for the characters to say.
5. WebsiteTalkingHeads.com Need a video with a professional spokesperson to deliver the lines? It’s easy and affordable.
6. TechSmith.com/Camtasia or CamStudio.com Create screencast video content to publish on YouTube.
7. eCamm.com Want to conduct video interviews and upload them to your YouTube channel? It’s easy with Call Recorder for Skype. You can download a free demo and upgrade to a paid version when you’re ready.
Editing Videos
Once you’ve recorded a video, you need a tool to edit it. An unedited video looks cheap, and that’s probably not how you want people to view your brand and business. Check out the video editors below to cut and move content within your videos, and to add sound, transitions, images, text, and more.
- iMovie: Unless you’re a video editing expert, you’ll probably be quite happy with the features offered in iMovie, which is the free video editing program that comes pre-installed on all Macs.
9. Windows Movie Maker: For Windows users, the free Windows Movie Maker software that comes on new PCs is a great video editing choice.
Enhancing Videos
You can easily enhance your videos by adding music, images, and even video content published by other people. For example, to create a highly professional business video, you should have an introduction and closing clip with music, text, and an image that provides your business name, website URL, and other important brand identity information. The following services provide royalty-free music, images, and video that you can legally use in your video content.
- RoyaltyFreeMusic.com Here you can find affordable music tracks and clips. Individual tracks can be licensed for under $10.
11. Live.FreeplayMusic.com This is another great option for finding affordable music for your videos. This service offers a wide variety of music at various price points and licensing options.
12. Audacity.SourceForge.net If you need to record and edit sounds for your videos, then this free open source audio editor and recorder is an excellent option.
13. iStockPhoto.com Here you can find affordable and professional images, photos, animated clips, illustrations, and video clips.
Converting Videos
What if your video is saved in a format that your video editing program or YouTube doesn’t accept? Fortunately, there are a variety of free and affordable video conversion tools that enable you to convert your video to the format you need in seconds.
- iSkySoft.com This is affordable video conversion and video download software for Mac and Windows users.
15. HandBrake.fr/downloads.php For a free open source video conversion tool, try HandBrake for Mac or Windows.