Video product creation can take your online business to the next level

An explosion in Internet video is taking place, and in large part it's an explosion based on video blogs. A massive online industry is gearing up around video sharing sites like YouTube and Internet video platforms like Brightcove.com. Television is moving online, and Internet TV may soon replace your favorite TV programs.

If you're an independent producer of video content or an Internet marketer interested in learning how to take advantage of the revolution in Internet video technologies, a good site to visit is Rocketboom (www.rocketboom.com). This site is marvelous in its simplicity; it has already grown into one of the most popular sites on the Internet. Rocketboom focuses on what's happening in the world of Internet news and technology. Its content is presented in a light and highly entertaining format.

The quality and simplicity of Rocketboom illustrates how fast the revolution in Internet technology is transforming delivery systems. Licensing and distribution costs used to require an investment of millions of dollars to get a broadcast TV channel on the air. Rocketboom is created with a consumer-level video camera, a notebook computer, and a simple set. It looks and feels like a commercial TV broadcast, but it has no budget for advertising. The videos are produced on simple sets, but the content is as smooth and as professional as anything broadcast on television. The cost of storage and bandwidth space on the Internet is so cheap today that a video channel like Rocketboom can be launched with virtually no investment at all.

Like most popular video sites on the Internet, Rocketboom is distributed through a technology called Real Simple Syndication, or "RSS." This technology lets viewers subscribe to your channel and receive alerts every time you make a new video product available on your site. And like so many other new technologies that are connecting people on the Internet, RSS is a free service.

Paid downloads of your video products is only one of the many revenue streams that can be generated for online video content. When your audience grows and you have the demographics to show advertisers, you will start to see what a powerful force video is for driving your business. Offering both free and subscription services is a good way to build a large community of users around your video products.

If you aren't creating video products for both free distribution and sale on the Internet, you aren't reaping the full benefits of connecting your business to the Worldwide Web. You may be impressed with how Internet has become a great tool for gathering and transmitting information, but creating video content for a potential audience of millions on the Internet is the best way to take your business to the next level.

Check out Rocketboom and then come back to this article. When you do, I think you'll be ready to create your first great video product for sale on the Internet.