Making It In Movies

I admit it – I'm a news junkie. Monitoring the TV text for stories related to success is a great excuse, but it's only half the truth. I'd do it anyway.

That's how I came across a snippet claiming that a high proportion of the people who post videos on YouTube or put personal information on MySpace and the other Web 2 sites intend to take the whole lot down again before they plan to get a job or change their current one.

They may find out it isn't quite that easy. If someone's described your video exploits on their blog, for instance, that information will remain online, and there's not a thing that you can do about it.

Employers routinely Google applicants who want to work for them. Many go still further and Google current staff, especially if they're looking for promotion, and colleges and universities check applicants.

You can make that work to your advantage. If the college, university, employer or promotion panel that you're thinking of applying to are going to Google you, make sure there's something good for them to find... something that puts you well ahead of all the competition.

For instance, if you want to study English literature, a one-page Squidoo lens on Shakespeare makes it clear you're serious. If you're a great cook and you want to be a chef, a lens on food and cooking shows a cookery school you want to study at, or a hotel you hope to work for, just what you can do.

If you can't think of any marketable skills you have, what about your hobbies and your interests? Anything that shows that you're prepared to spend some time in doing something positive is fine.

Once you've got your subject, make a movie of it. You can post your video to YouTube or Google video, or upload it to your website or your blog. It can be just as easy as making a movie of a party, and it's much more valuable. It can be very satisfying, too.

Make sure your movie shows you off to best advantage. For instance, if your hobby's stamp-collecting, think about what qualities that means you have, and make sure your writing and your movie bring them out.

A stamp's not just a piece of paper – it's a tiny artwork, that tells a great deal about the time and place it's come from. It might be a country in King George's British Empire, or an Eastern European country that's gained its independence from a neighbor only recently. Maybe it's postmarked with the year of Kennedy's assassination, or perhaps it has a flaw that makes it priceless.

Well, put those things in your writing or your movie. They show you have a sense of history and geography, and that you're the kind of person who can notice detail. Most of all, they show you have a genuine interest in and knowledge of your subject... and that implies that you can bring those qualities to a degree course or a job.

Building a lens on Squidoo's easy, and there's lots of advice to help you do it well, but how do you make a video?

You start with the equipment. Webcams are inexpensive, and with a bit of practice you can soon get used to using one.

If you don't want to appear on camera, that's fine. Open Office has free presentation software that will let you make your movie without having to appear on-screen yourself.

At the moment you can get the Rolls Royce of video production software free. The company behind Camtasia has launched a new version, and they're giving the previous one away. It's the one that's used by the professionals, and it's as much as most producers ever need.

For good measure you can have the full version of SnagIt free, as well. That's another program which lets you capture images from your desktop to use in video... and you can find the links to all three free resources here.

Why give yourself an online presence that you might regret when you can have one to be proud of? Go get Camtasia right now, and grab yourself some video success!