Video Email Choices and Options
I have reviewed 4 video email systems from the viewpoint of a business marketing tool: EyeJot HelloWorld JiveSystems Talk Fusion EyeJot:
EyeJot has a very clean and friendly interface.
It was easy to set up an account and get started. The Free version only allows videos of 60 seconds, which is tough for talkative people like me! They support adding your video to MySpace or iPod but I didn't see a way to move it to YouTube. The video is stored on their server, so I wasn't able to save it to my hard disk and use it as needed. Also, from a business perspective I didn't like the fact that when my video email arrives and is clicked on, there are Ads served up by AdBrite in the email. That would not be great for businesses that want just their logo and brand on the template. The free version will not allow uploading of other people's videos and I'm not sure how many emails you can send at once...it seems a bit clunky for that, but I have a question into support at it.They do offer Pro and Pro Plus. Videos are still limited at 5 minutes, but you can upload and send pre-recorded videos and the Plus offering adds the ability to customize colors and add your logo to their standard template which is less flexible than some would like. The Pro also adds tracking which is an important business feature. Pricing is very attractive. Free, $29.95 per year for Pro and $99.95 per year for Pro Plus. Not sure how long that will last once folks start sending bulk emails through their servers. I liked it! As they grow I'm sure they'll add more options for small businesses and up. HelloWorld:
HelloWorld is to me like MySpace+Skype on steroids.
It offers you the ability to Create, Upload, Store and Share ALL digital content while maintaining ownership of that content (which is a good feature). It wants to be everything to everyone and I found the interface a bit overwhelming and confusing. There is no About page and the Home page doesn't present what HelloWorld is. The only way to get any idea is to take the HelloWorld tour, which is a great commercial but doesn't really tell you how to get started. Also, unlike other sites, there is no Free option or test drive. To start you have to immediately sign up and commit a minimum of $9.95 a month, so I wasn't able to test it. It offers email (pitches to get rid of what you have!), streaming video with templates which looks nice, Calender, RSS feeds, Maps, integrated voice system, Blog tools, and ability to convert video to Podcast and other video formats. There is a Broadcast Show Live that has some great features such as the ability to poll your viewers live and even Pay Per View! But, in spite of all of this, without the option to try it out first and get hooked, and a lack of clear information on how you can do all this, I found it potentially cool, but not enough to pay when there are other options that can do video email without all the other bells and whistles! Jive Systems:
Jive Systems seems like an interesting option,
however it is PC only and their site says they are in Beta. So, I could not test it. However, they do offer a Free trial for 30 days and have lots of examples of how people are using their video email system. The other GREAT feature is the fact that you can record 60 minutes per video email which beats every other system. There is a realtime reporting system which I like as you are notified when the recipient watches your video. You can embed the video you make into websites as Jive generates HTML code automatically for you, like Eyebot (their free version does this). There are other features I like:1. Ability to write and save scripts as part of your video 2. Customize templates with premade ones or create your own 3. Video conferencing,...they are the only ones that offer this Their current price after 30 days Free is $37 per month and they say the price will increase to $97 per month after Beta. I'm not sure if that pricing will attract the number of members they expect unless video conferencing is valuable to a business. Talk Fusion:
Talk Fusion is a video email tool designed for business.
It has several unique features that make it worth looking at for any business. 1. professionally designed Template Library PLUS customization service 2. Email Deliverability assurance as only video email company placed on industry standard Habeas SafeList 3. registered and approved by over 4 million ISPs worldwide 4. Patented video compression technology resulting in exceptional speed and conversion "on the fly" It does support PC and Mac. You can create your own videos using a webcam or internal camera and upload to their servers. After that you can use the video anyway you want; as video email, submitting to other video sites or playing it off of their server to your webpage. The business model is focused on home business expansion; meaning they are focused on signing up people who want their own business selling Talk Fusion products. However, if you are not interested in the network marketing opportunity you can purchase a license and use it for your own purposes. Like others there is a monthly service fee for the distribution depending on the quantity of video emails per month starting at $20.00. Talk Fusion will support millions of emails per company per month so it will scale from the individual to the large corporation.
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