At this point, you’ve all heard the term “new media.” So you’ve also probably all asked the question: “What exactly IS new media?” But don’t think it’s okay not to know the answer! It’s been 50 years since there was this radical a shift in the entertainment business model - AND since the barriers to entry and success were this low. That isn’t going to last, so if you don’t know what’s happening with ITV, IPTV, Mobisodes and more, time’s up.

Now let me take the question even further and answer this question instead: “How can I make new media work for me?”

Let’s start with a quick explanation of what “new media” is. It’s a very broad term that covers a lot of changes in the entertainment industry, including, at the most basic (and not at all comprehensively):

• Where do I watch new media? Anywhere! You enjoy new media programming on the Internet and cell phones, not just TV and radio. *New media buzzwords you already know: broadband content, mobile TV and podcasts.
• Is it always scheduled? No! New media lets you watch what you want when you want to, not when the provider schedules it. *New media buzzwords you already know: on-demand (video-on-demand, mobile-on-demand, gaming-on-demand) and streaming media.
• How do I get it? Lots of ways! New media comes to you via the Internet, gaming boxes, Internet streaming set-top boxes and more, not just airwaves and satellite. New media buzzwords you already know: set-top box and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television).
• What’s the format? Digital! But image quality can range from exquisite (digital television standards like HD are part of the new media movement) to excruciating (the grainy videos you see on popular Web sites are mega-compressed to save space). Audio alone takes less space, so it usually is good to fantastic.
  
• How do I experience it? Interactively! You aren’t expected to passively watch and listen. New media lets you submit instant feedback, share a show with others and even affect its content, via virtual worlds, social networks, forums, blogs, wikis and other participatory features that the Internet savvy call “Web 2.0.” New media buzzwords you already know: mash-ups and viral video.

I bet now you know you’re more familiar with new media than you realized! So how do you make the most of it professionally? Here are five “starter kit” essentials to help you become a new media mogul:

1) Join the User-Generation: Get your message and material in front of thousands more eyeballs. If you’ve ever uploaded a video clip to YouTube or BlipTV or other “user-gen” sites, you’re already new media-mazed! If not, here’s all you have to do:

• Research the various sites and READ THEIR POLICIES for content rights.
• Open a free account with your professional or company screen name. Use the same name at every site you register at so fans can find you.
• Shoot a quick intro reel (or edit your current reel down to about 2 minutes). Home video is fine if it’s all you can shoot, but a digital camera will survive compression better.
• If you don’t have a professional video capture and editing program, just use iMovie (Mac) or Windows Movie Maker (PC) to transfer the tape contents to your computer and make simple edits and title cards.
• Upload the final product to your site account. Remember, you must own all of the rights to everything in the video before you can upload!
• Email a link to your contacts to let them know you’re streaming online (usually do-via that site).

Career uses: stream your movie trailer, talent reel, show promo or more.

2) Go 2.0: help your audience find and give feedback on your projects by making sure you have an active presence in all the new interactive Internet sites, and stream your media there, too:

• Launch your own blogs: a Web log, or “blog,” is an online journal where you can publish regular entries, or “posts,” that readers can enjoy and instantly respond to. You’re reading one of my blog posts right now. Now go get your own - there are free sites everywhere, including this one, Google’s Blogger. Register with your same screen name, decide if content will be viewable to the general public or to members-only, and remember, with some design, you can stream audio and video here, too (even linked to your user-gen account). Always read the rights very carefully before you publish or upload anything. Career uses: share behind-the-scenes production stories, teach what you know in your field, create an online voice for a character and more.
• Join social networks: from MySpace to FaceBook to Friendster and LinkedIn, there are endless online “communities” that let you post a page about yourself, invite people to connect with you and give you access to those people’s other contacts (and gives all of them access to yours). Social network presence makes your message and project instantly international! Keywords you create let people who share your interest find you. You can even start interest groups of your own at social sites like MeetUp and Gather. Of course, you can stream media sometimes, too, including video and audio (MySpace music sites have been legendary for launching bands). Just be sure to read all rights and permissions very carefully before you publish or upload anything. Career uses: there’s no better way to widen your worldwide network of contacts than to share other people’s connections.

3) Broaden your distribution options: Feel stuck in the old model of old media, waiting for some impossible-to-reach wizard to wave a magic wand and buy your show or finance your film so it can reach an audience? Investigate the many “third party content aggregators” who sell directly online, like CustomFlix and IndieFlix and, of course, Amazon.com. Also take another look at the sites that feature original streaming content for free, for advertising participation or for other revenue-generating options (like Revver’s viewer-based model). Or build your own site and commit time and funds to marketing directly to your audience. (If you don’t know who your audience is, that at least helps explain why it’s so hard to get funds for the project!) Want to know how to build your own product-based Web site? Sounds like a future post…check back in or sign up for our blog feed so you’ll always get the updates!

4) Broaden your career options: Feel even more stuck in the oldest model of old media, waiting for some impossible-to-reach wizard’s assistant to schedule a meeting for you to work on the wizard’s own dream project? Consider all of the new job opportunities in new media, from content creation to marketing to game writing and design and more! I’m actually teaching a class at Columbia College Hollywood this quarter on New Media Professional Paths and Possibilities. Check your local schools and weekend workshops to see who’s talking about new media careers.

5) Broaden your knowledge: There’s so much more to learn about new media to use it more effectively professionally. Be sure you’re reading the trades (I love Cynopsis Digital) and regularly looking up new terms online when you hear or read them (assignment #1: what’s “ITV”?)

And know this: you want to start riding the transition train right now…because it’s not going to be “new” media much longer.

NEW MEDIA STARTER KIT CHECKLIST:
__ I have defined the audience(s) for my project(s).
__ I have created audio or video content that promotes my project(s).
__ I have uploaded my content to at least one user-generation site that my audience frequents.
__ I have created a blog that features my content and invites reader feedback.
__ I have joined a social network and/or started a group of my own and am actively courting contacts.
__ I have researched marketing opportunities for reaching my audience directly.
__ I have attended at least one seminar, panel, workshop or course that tells me more about professional careers in new media.
__ I have posted a comment to DMA’s “Break into the Biz” blog with my own thoughts on this and other posts!

Need more help with your project packaging strategies? Contact Show Starter to schedule a private intensive seminar on selling your show!

The Issue: People have asked me why I am starting my own blog, and I’ve certainly asked myself. There are at least 3 good reasons to start one of your own. Keep reading, and you’ll find out what inspired me…and perhaps what will motivate you to “self-publish” on the worldwide Web.

The Hard Truth: Admittedly, a “blog,” short for a “Web log,” is the ultimate tribute to this celebreality era of self-obsession and self-promotion! Wasn’t it just a few years ago you were yelling at your mother for reading your diary? Now you’re publishing it online for the world. Does the world care? Well…yeah.

The Solution(s): YES. You should start your own blog if:

You’re about to travel extensively. Postcards are incredibly thoughtful, romantic and personal treasures for your closest friends and family. But be honest, you’ve had to mail a bunch of them after you got home because you couldn’t find or afford stamps abroad. But if you can get to an Internet cafe or have access to a computer, a blog lets you post instant, in-the-moment stories, photos, even audio, for everyone you can e-mail, with way more information than can fit on the back of a card.
TIP: Keep some things personal, still. Write special notes on the blog for people…or hold some info back for private postcard text only!

You’re about to dive into something new. Double the intensity of a new experience by sharing your thoughts/fears/joys on a blog…and opening the door for 24-hour feedback, cheerleading and advice! Best of all, you have a permanent record of your journey from day one (you won’t believe it years later). Fitness and new job blogs are already hot topics, but why not a “learning to cook” or “moving to a new city” theme? Or maybe a “start of a new romance” blog where you only invite one other person to join?
TIP: Commit to sharing one pro and one con of the new experience in each of your posts and invite friends to give you tricks for getting past the con.

You have something unique to share. You know you have a special niche in your family and group of friends. Are you the go-to guy for hooking up home electronics? Maybe everyone who breaks up with a boyfriend heads straight to your door? That smells like a big, steaming pile of blog! Why not go online and share what you do best with the world? It’s a great way to explore what you know, help other people and do what you love to do. It will help solidify your “personal brand” to an even larger and more diverse audience.
TIP: Not sure what your personal brand even is? The world is trying to tell you, believe me, and I can help, too. Check out the link for “My True North” on this blog’s home page!

So why did I start my own blog? Well, I just got back from a month of travel. But I’ve never really sent postcards, and I confess, I didn’t blog either. (I did read a friend’s exciting round-the-world blog and laughed at all of the drunken photos. She might need the blog to remember what she did all of those months!) I’m also diving into something new, putting my ten-year producing career on ice to pursue speaking, my greatest passion, full-time. But I have a fantastic marketing coach to join me on that journey. So it turns out I’m travelling, doing something new and beginning this blog all for the same reason: Door #3.

I’ve been a confidante and advisor to so many “stuck” people over the past fifteen years, and I keep on hearing the same phrase when we talk: “I’ve never thought of it that way before.” I love that moment of POSSIBILITY in their eyes, faces, voices. I’ve done so many things, I just assume everything is possible. And no matter what limitation people think they’re facing, I always find a way IN to get them to try a new step in a new direction. If you’ve been on the fence about starting your own blog, I hope this will tip you over to give it a try for one day and with one intention: not to put information online…but to put inspiration online. In the one, personal, singular way that only you can.

The Caveat: So is the answer ever “No, don’t start a blog, or we will track you down and spill a latte on your keyboard”? Well…yeah.

If you are: frequently intoxicated, deeply angry at a certain someone, bitter about bad times in life or trolling for unhealthy stimulation, don’t hook your “Web” up with a “log”! All that time you spend ranting, raving and venting online…is time you could be spending at AA, a therapy session or out on a first date moving FORWARD with your life. Blogs are so brilliant at capturing the present. Don’t abuse them-or anthing else!-to stay locked in the past.

To begin your own branded blog, go to www.blogger.com and follow the very simple steps to create a page and begin posting!

See you next week with the next question and, even better, the next solution. All the best. dma