I'm often asked, "I have no video training but I want to put video on my website to help promote my products and services what can I do?" Well the answer is simple. If you can shoot a home movie you can put a video clip on your website. Now the first thing is to not be scared of the camera. A good sales person needs to be able to speak clearly and present their product in a manner that everyone can understand and enjoy. So with that in mind turn on your camera, cell phone, or whatever video capturing tool you have and begin shooting. But here are a few tips for making your shoot successful and getting it up on your website.

1. Speak clearly, and so that everyone watching can understand what your saying and what your product is about.

2. Make sure you have enough light so that you and your product can be seen. But be aware that you can also have to much light. So the best thing to do is to test your video and the area your going to be shot in. Make sure you look natural.

3. A microphone is important and you need to be heard. If your using a mini-dv camera you can easily get a microphone that can attach from the camera to your clothing. Use make sure you can't see the wire that connects the mic and the camera during your video.

4. Have FUN! No one wants to see a sour face on camera. So make sure you are having fun and that you SMILE. The better you come across on camera the more people would want to buy your product or services.

5. Don't use big words in your video presentation. Keep it short sweet and simple.

6. Once you've finished your recording, watch it. Make sure it's what you want and something that you'll feel proud to have on your website.

7. Now get the clip to your computer. Your camera will have instructions on how to upload the footage. Now you can get fancy and use one of the high end video editing products. But those take a long time to learn. So if your on a PC use Windows MovieMaker and if your on a Mac use IMove and edit your clip to your licking. Don't use to make crazy effects keep it about you and your product.

8. Now once your clip is edited you need to output it to a web file. If your on a PC then output the file to a WMV. And if your on a MAC then output your clip to a .MOV file.

9. Upload it! If you don't have server space then use Video.Google.com or Youtube.com. You can easily upload your video to these services. Not only will you have the code to embed the file to your website but you will also allow others to see your video and your product who haven't been to your site yet.

10. Promote your video clip. Include links to your clip in your weekly newsletters. Send your clip to your friends, family, and business associates. Let them see the work you've done and ask them to pass it on to other friends. Son you'll notice that you have a ton of visitors watching your video and more traffic to your website.

Michael Street is the former Multi-Media Manager for BET.com. He has produce over 10,000 hours of online video. He currently runs the urban travel website http://www.GreasyGuide.com and is also a creative consultant on various online TV business ventures. He can be reached at [email protected] for further assistance on getting video to your website.