Read the post, watch the videos and let me know your thoughts about making video commercials for the web by commenting below!

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“TV advertisers are finally discovering that YouTube + viral imagination = free media.

The good news for you is that money is not a barrier, which means that marketers of any size can play. But the rules are different, as they always are online.

Because media is free but attention is not (this is flipped from TV world) you need to make a different sort of ad for a different sort of audience.

1. Assume that the viewer has the attention span of an espresso-crazed fruitfly. That means slapstick, quick cuts and velocity.

2. Find a word or phrase that you can own in Google, that fits in an email, and that comes up in discussion at the cafeteria table or in the playground.

Castrol gets both rules right in this inane commercial.

3. Length doesn’t matter. 10 seconds is fine and so is five minutes. Media is free, remember?

4. Challenge the status quo, be provocative, touch a social nerve or create some other sort of interesting conversation. In other words, a commercial worth watching.

Dove does both in this now-famous commercial.

Because of the power of free media, I expect to see a whole host of commercials that would never be deemed effective enough to spend big media money on, but that generate huge views online. Look for plenty of irrelevant slogans and catch phrases and off strategy content… anything for an eyeball.

Also, understand that this is out of your control. Once launched, what happens, happens. One commercial I know of caught fire and ended up with millions of views. The client then called the producer, screaming in anger. He wanted to be able to turn it off, to decide how it got used, who talked about it, etc. You can’t. Once it spreads, it belongs to the community, not to you.

The biggest shift is going to be that organizations that could never have afforded a national campaign will suddenly have one. The same way that there’s very little correlation between popular websites and big companies, we’ll see that the most popular commercials get done by little shops that have nothing to lose.” (Re-post of  “Making Commercials for the Web – from Seth Godin’s Blog“)

My synopsis of Napolean Hill’s – T&GR – Ch 4

======== April 2, 2009 ========

“I dream, I test my dreams against my beliefs, I dare to take risks, and I execute my vision to make those dreams come true.” - Walt Disney

======== April 1, 2009 ========

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge

======== March 31, 2009 ========

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.” - Robert Fritz

======== March 30, 2009 ========

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a Force of Nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” - George Bernard Shaw

======== March 29, 2009 ========

“I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.” - Oprah Winfrey

======== March 28, 2009 ========

“I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.” - Ronald Reagan

======== March 27, 2009 ========

“We all have been placed on this earth to discover our own path, and we will never be happy if we live someone else’s idea of life.” - James Van Praagh

======== March 26, 2009 ========

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” - George Bernard Shaw

======== March 25, 2009 ========

This is a true today as it was back in the 1960′s with one little change; rather than just considering the strength of our nation, let’s consider extending it to everyone in the World …..

“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” -John F. Kennedy