Revenue has published many articles on the merits of using video as an online marketing tool. There are lots of people pushing the video blogging envelope in the online marketing space - Sam Harrelson, Mark Wielgus, Jim Kukral, Shawn Collins and many others. What you should note about this list is not that most of these folks are well known in the online marketing industry (they are) but that they are men.
I don’t like to go all feminista on issues, but I can’t help but notice how male dominated the use of video for online marketers has become. There are a handful of women in the online marketing space, like Missy Ward, working with video. Melissa Salas at Buy.com has a video show. And Stephanie Agresta did a slew of interviews under her InternetGeekGirl persona at SXSW.
An important distinction to make is that there are also Web video shows. Most of this programming is more produced and scheduled rather than just daily or weekly blogging using video. This is area is female dominated with Mahalo’s Veronica Belmont, iJustine and Amanda Congdon fronting hugely popular efforts. Gary Vaynerchuk, the wine guy seems to be the male exception here.
But what about the affiliate marketing space where there are a lot of super smart and successful women? Why aren’t they using video like their male counterparts? It’s a touchy issue to go into but I think it’s about looks. The majority of us fall are average looking and not in the supermodel range.
But for women, I think doing a video is all about vanity. I don’t want to generalize, but more often than not, women want to look our best on video and let’s face it - that can take some work. There’s doing our hair, putting on makeup and finding the perfect outfit. You guys just push record and go. Or put on a baseball cap (yes, you Mr. Collins).
.
Society has conditioned us to want to see super attractive women reading the news, presenting information, and on the big screen. I’m not trying to perpetuate stereotypes, but on the whole society is not as critical of men that don’t have Brad Pitt good looks. As long as they are entertaining, smart and delivering us good content, we aren’t focusing of their looks. Think about your local newscasters. How many times have you seen a total hot young girl paired with an older average looking man reading the headlines?
In August of last year, Morgan Webb started a daily video blogging show, called WebbAlert. When TechCrunch posted an entry about the launch of the initiative many of the comments were focused on Morgan’s looks despite her creditials as a veteran of covering technology and gaming at TechTV and G4. And by the way, Morgan is no slouch in the looks department having been included in the “TechTV’s Sexiest Techie” poll sponsored by Playboy magazine.
Recently, videoblogger Kukral noted several times on Twitter that he was slated to shoot several video but had a big zit. However, he also said the show must go on and shot his videos anyway. The last thing most of the women I know would do is call attention to a pimple or a perceived flaw – nevermind broadcast it their legions of followers. Personally, I’d head straight to the makeup drawer for the super-strength coverup. Then if that was not sufficient to camoflauge the problem, I’d wait for the offending blemish to dissapear – but that’s just me.
Kukral also consults for a company in Ohio to help them get their message out using video. He tells me that each time he’s needed “actors” for the video, men at the company are eager to appear on camera but not one woman employee has yet to accept the chance to be in a video – they were all too worried about how they’d look, he says.
Videoblogger Harrelson agrees that people tend to focus more on women’s looks, but says he sees the opportunities for women doing video as much larger than for men. He’s basing that notion on the majority of those consuming tech and online marketing videos are male and men enjoying watching women.
Kukral adds that there is just no denying that video is a visual medium and being attractive helps. He says that people would much rather look at attractive people – male or female. But, like Harrelson, Kukral says that most men would prefer to watch a woman.
Kukral is only half joking when he says that “the only way I can compete with boobs is to be more informative.” He claims to work even harder because of this. “The beauty of all this is that I work even harder because I know that online video is dominated by women with good shows and I am not a 115 pound blonde. So I have to strive to be more entertaining, have better content and do a better job.”
Social media consultant Agresta admits that vanity is part of the issue, but she theorizes that the numbers of women participating in social media is not as high as men. Therefore, there are less women video bloggers. Video blogging and social media are often seen as ways to promote your personal brand and Agresta says not all women are comfortable with that.
She also suspects that it might be a technological issue. Yes, making video using a Flip camera and uploading to video sites like YouTube.com have significantly lowered the barriers to entry in the video blogging space, but some women are still tech adverse, Agresta says.
“It’s like 10 years ago. The question was ‘where are the women in new media?” The issue hasn’t changed, just the technology, she says.
Still, she admits there is no question that there are higher standards for women on video and in business overall. However, she also believes that as women become more comfortable in front of the camera the fears will subside.
After talking me for this entry, Agresta threw on a baseball cap, grabbed her camera and filmed her responses to my questions. When she uploads the video, you can see it here.
I’d love to her about more women in online marketing and affiliate marketing doing video blogging. Let me know your thoughts.
Check out Revenue’s video stories:
Video’s Big Secret
Video Goes Viral
Maship Mix
22 Comments Add your own
1. Sam Harrelson | March 24th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Great post, Lisa. I left my remarks via video here:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/samharrelson/videos/3
Sam
2. Jim Kukral | March 24th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Best blog ever Lisa, and not just because I’m in it. Nice work.
3. alexandra wharton | March 24th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
A few weeks ago, Anderson Cooper was interviewing David Gergen, age 66, and a female political pundit, who appeared to be about 15 years younger than Gergen. My darling husband commented that the woman did not look “fresh enough” but made no comment about Gergen’s appearance (he has approximately five hairs wrapped around his head five times).
I pointed this out to him and he agreed that I was right (I’ve trained him well). It would be nice to think that if ‘generation millennium’ sees more women of all types online, then they won’t end up with expectations like my husband’s when they reach 40.
4. Shawn Collins | March 24th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I don’t just put on the baseball caps for the videos - I wear them all day.
I do often film in some of my fanciest t-shirts.
As far as other female affiliate marketers on video, don’t forgot about Market Leverage: http://www.marketleveragenews.com/
5. southbeachannie | March 24th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Challenge Accepted!!
6. Affiliate Fortune Cookies&hellip | March 24th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
[…] - SezWho - Disqus - Video Is a Man’s World? - Donkey Punch: The Program - SciFiTales […]
7. Affiliate Fortune Cookies&hellip | March 24th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
[…] - SezWho - Disqus - Video Is a Man’s World? - Donkey Punch: The Program - SciFiTales […]
8. Tobias | March 24th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Sam Harrelson should go with the clean shaven no cap look for his videos.
9. Sam Harrelson | March 25th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Tobias wins best comment!
Come on Tobias, you’ll have a beard by year’s end after you see my grizzly adams look in Boston. All the cool guys in affiliate marketing will be sporting the face fur this year.
10. The Disparity in Affiliat&hellip | March 25th, 2008 at 7:49 am
[…] Thanks for visiting the Affiliate Tip blog. Subscribe to my RSS feed or enter your e-mail on the top right to get updates by e-mail.Lisa Picarille wrote a post yesterday, “Videoblogging: Is it a Man’s World?,” about how the majority of video blogging affiliate marketers are men. Revenue has published many articles on the merits of using video as an online marketing tool. There are lots of people pushing the video blogging envelope in the online marketing space - Sam Harrelson, Mark Wielgus, Jim Kukral, Shawn Collins and many others. What you should note about this list is not that most of these folks are well known in the online marketing industry (they are) but that they are men. […]
11. Tobias | March 25th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Yo Sam you may be on to something I just checked in with my boy Baron over a YardBarker.com and I think he supports your theory on the 2008 face fur movement…check it
http://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/THE_BEARD/179793
12. MissyWard.com » Blo&hellip | March 25th, 2008 at 11:55 am
[…] I happened upon Lisa Picarille’s post, Videoblogging: Is it a Man’s World? and I have to tell you, it hit home. “But what about the affiliate marketing space where there are a lot of super smart and successful women? Why aren’t they using video like their male counterparts? It’s a touchy issue to go into but I think it’s about looks. The majority of us fall are average looking and not in the supermodel range. […]
13. Burning Vanity Bra’&hellip | March 25th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
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14. Tanya Middleton | March 25th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
It is incredibly unfortunate that women are not soley judged by the merit of their profession, intellect or wit, they are held to much high standards of asteticism than men are. I think its imperative that women continue supporting each other in their professions, especially in the business world.I’m constantly searching the web for realms of support and advice concerning my business.In fact,if you’re looking for information on owning, maintaing or developing your online business, you should check out Vision to Venture, which is 5 live events (April-May 2008) hosted by industry insiders showcasing trade secrets and featuring “Girl’s Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business”. One of the featured speakers, Susan Solovic, an award winning small business advocate, will be discussing online business promotion that’s easy and affordable. You should take a look at http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/v2v/; the event is completely geared towards us female entrepreneurs and provided by Microsoft. You should also look into their new web service Office Live Small Business, which is so easy to use and features a ton of resources on how to organize and manage an online business. If you have any questions let me know, I work with Microsoft and I’m always around!
15. jgoode | March 25th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Thanks soooo much for bringing up such a great topic Lisa. I’ve been toying with the idea of video for my own brand as well as my affiliate marketing for almost a year now - its absolutely a mind boggling, intimidating medium… I have to agree with Stephanie when she said its a comfort issue. I’m positive once we get started and do it more, it will only get easier and more fun. But it’s definitely easier to think of when one’s own face isn’t in front of the camera.
As far as the vanity issue, I’d have to absolutely agree there as well.. but not necessarily just on a looks factor. For some of us, sounding intelligent or knowledgeable is hard enough in writing… but in front of an audience is even moreso. Its donw right scary. The whole “I’m being watched intentionally” think, for me anyway, is a huge factor. Face-to-face there is the spontaneity factor, but on video theres that delete button and no reason not to use it.
Thank you for again for the topic - its one more bit of encouragement I know I needed to hear!
16. Rosalind Gardner | March 26th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Hey Lisa,
Video blogging isn’t ‘all about vanity’ for all female affiliate marketers.
Some of us have gotten past having to doll ourselves up whenever we’re in front of a lens.
I vblogged a newsletter while standing atop a mountain here in B.C., sans makeup, hair flying every which way and looking none the better for the strenuous hike. I also did did a home office tour dressed in my standard winter issue outfit - head to toe fleece.
And you know what?
My subscribers comment frequently that they love those videos best of all.
Why?
They get to see a woman who really works from her messy home office as an affiliate marketer and who uses the same equipment that they do. They see someone who stumbles over and searches for words in her videos then laughs and carries on. In other words, they get to see and know the Real Ros, your everyday, average, run-of-the-mill human being and someone to whom they can relate.
My audience appreciates the honesty and I like not having to waste time in front of a mirror.
So, to the ladies out there - you’re beautiful just the way you are. Just wear a smile, talk to the camera as you would your friends and reap the rewards.
Cheers,
Ros
17. lisa picarille | March 27th, 2008 at 6:00 am
ros, i agree that our audiences like the reality of video. we, as women, just need to overcome our fear that we will be judged on looks rather than on content. the more women that take your cue and just do it, the easier it will be for the rest of us. keep up the great work.
18. Full Page Spread » &hellip | March 27th, 2008 at 7:44 am
[…] There is a lot of enthusiastic talk about online video blogs going around this week. […]
19. I <3 Women Affiliate M&hellip | March 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
[…] Lisa Picarille asks the question, Videoblogging: Is it a man’s World? and goes on to answer the question with her Video debut. […]
20. Bookstore | March 27th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Unfortunately, I think you’re right. It’s about looks. Sheesh, I do a vid when I look like I did in college. Yea, that will be good.
Alison
21. Want To Be A Successful V&hellip | April 2nd, 2008 at 2:16 am
[…] What started this off was Revenue editor-in-chief’s post about video blogging and wondering why the majority of video bloggers seem to be male. […]
22. Melissa Salas | May 8th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Great topic Lisa - my response could be a novel
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