Your Blog Questions

This question comes from Robert:

Hey Paul…..What software are you using to make your videos?

Help me out and send me a link.

Hi Robert. The software that I like to use is a product from Techsmith called  Camtasia Studio.  In my opinion it is really the best screen recording utility out there.  I also use their video hosting service called Screencast.com.  If you combine the two products, I can’t imagine any easier way to create and share video tutorials on a blog or website

Now, I do have to warn you that these products aren’t cheap.  Camtasia Studio is currently selling for $299 and a basic account on Screencast.com is $70 a year (maybe that is why I don’t make any money) but if you create a lot of video tutorials for a lot of different websites (like me) than it is definitely worth it.  One alternative might be to try Jing.  Jing is a free program also offered by Techsmith.  It allows you to capture images, record video and share it online.  It is optimized to utilize Screencast.com (of course) but you could use your own host and server as well.  Jing might be limited in features but it far makes up for it in price ($0).  You can also get a free 60 day trial of Screencast.com.  Perhaps you could make enough money from creating tutorials in Jing in order to pay for the video hosting service.

Let me know if you want a video tutorial showing you how to make a video tutorial (?) I’ll be more than happy to help.

This question comes from Monika:

Paul, I have become an affiliate at Amazon.com. How do I place the affiliate link on my blog? Thanks for your help.

Hi Monika.  What you want to do is:

1) Sign-in to your associate account on amazon.com (http://affiliate-program.amazon.com)

2) Click on the “Build Links / Widget” located on the left sidebar.  Then look for “Classic Links”.

3) Click on “Product Links” to link to specific products in the Amazon catalog

4) Enter the product name or find the ISBN number of the product you are wanting to recommend and click “Go”

5) Click “Get HTML” next to the product that matches your search.

6. Paste this code into your webpage or blog post:

I have also created a short video tutorial showing you how to do this:

Let me know if you have any other questions.