Lois Chiles, Dr. Holly Goodhead, Moonraker

Selling it to your client

When a person scans the main index of your website, (RSS Feed and mobile website if you have a header image in them in place), the image you have for a post, whether that is a featured image or a header image, is its sales tool. It is the only visual sales tool for that post.

Since that is the case, you should try to use the most eye-catching image you can get your hands on for the header and/or featured image.

Make your image work in favor of the post

To accomplish this, seek and use resplendent photos. These images should be:

1. High-definition.

The reason for an high definition image is because they are more detailed, brighter, and the finer points in the image are more pronounced. I previously spoke of where to obtain such images here: 5 Movie Photo, Celebrity Picture, and Movie Poster Resources.

2. An image that tells a story.

An entertaining story told in a picture (example: Mother’s Day (2010) movie trailer 2) foretells of an equally if not more entertaining story in the post. Even if that is not the case, the picture still wets the viewer’s appetite and their curiosity. That tantalization could result in a click.

3. An image that houses one or more of the project’s main actors or actresses.

Using an image with a notable star or comely individual aways draws the eye. If the viewer is a fan of that person or persons, they might click just to see what that person is up to.

A link to a view

Make sure (if you care about driving the most traffic possible to the post) that the header image is hyperlinked to the post so that when it is clicked, the post, not the picture, is brought up. The person viewing the image in the main index of your site might want to save the image to their harddrive. They may click on it to see the image by itself or to see if there is a bigger version of the image. Hyperlinking it ensures that the post is viewed when this happens, not the image.

Feed Header

If your RSS Feed is in Summary mode, your post’s header image (if its displayed in your RSS Feed) plays an even more vitale role because you do not have the surroundings of your site to sell the post or ancillary clicks. Google Feedburner pages all look the same. The only thing that sells the post in your feed is the picture that accompanies the post and the title of the post.

Mobile Header

On the mobile website version of your website, a header image will make your post sparkle because so few websites on the mobile web have header images. Blogger users automatically have them but WordPress users do not. Going the extra mile to get that image up and running will help to differentiate your mobile posts and sell your posts.

And always, remember

Optimize whatever images you use in your post, even in the header. You can find advice on this here: Using SEO optimized Images in your Posts to Increase Pageviews and here: 5 Ways to Optimize Images for Increased Pageviews and SEO.

Here is the question you need to ask yourself: Why would I want to give my site visitors that impression? Below are five strategies to help you avoid this impression and post new content consistently. If you have not created one, you can always find a website for sale to start publishing content through on a regular basis.

Strategy Number One

What are you doing on Sunday? Sleeping?

Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, The Roommate

Taking the day off? Taking a day off is the modus operandi for the second place, second tier movie website. The movie industry doesn’t stop because you are tired or need sleep. It most certainly doesn’t stop on National Sleep Deprivation, Recharge Day. You can write posts for the week on Sunday and set them to post periodically later in the week. Here is how I would handle Sundays and something that I actually have done in the past. It doesn’t have to be a lazy Sunday for you and your site.

Spend Sunday morning writing your posts, the afternoon editing them, and set them to post (for WordPress, click the ‘Edit’ button for ‘Publish Immediately’ on the ‘Edit Post’ screen. For Blogger, click ‘Post Options’ on the ‘New Post’ screen, then under ‘Post date and time’, choose ‘Scheduled at’.) throughout the week that night. For a seven day week write seven posts. If you are not passionate about your subject matter this will be difficult. If you are passionate, this will be laborious (listen to a movie or music in the background as you type to take the edge off) but it will be fun as well because you will be expressing yourself to your audience.

Strategy Number Two

Write a series that appears on the same day every week and if you can manage it, at the same time each week. This makes it easy for you. Very little thought. Write the new entry for the series in advance, possibly on Sunday, and set it to post on the day of the week you want. Soon it will become a routine for you.

Strategy Number Three

Another strategy to try if you are having trouble posting everyday is when you do sit down to write a post, set that first post to publish the following day. This is something I do as well. Its a good habit to get into. You will always have something posting on your site the next day and this procedure will force you to write a minimum of two posts per day (one post for today and one post for tomorrow).

There are certain posts that this will not work for e.g. a movie trailer for a major mainstream film, TV show reviews, casting news, movie photos, especially if it is a piece of news that is hot and just breaking. If you save it to post the next day, your margins on it will be very low. The type of posts that this does work for are movie reviews, independent film trailers, independent movie photos, contests, editorials, polls or a series you are writing.

Strategy Number Four

Find and hire a contributor to write stories  and publish posts on your site when it is not an opportune time for you to write and post new content (perhaps you work a full time job 9am – 5pm). CraigsList and LinkedIn are two resources for finding contributors and writers. SlashFilm, I believe, has shifts for their writers and areas they each specifically covers so there is no overlap (very smart and business-like) in their coverage. This is something you can employ as well.

Strategy Number Five

Integrate all of the above with The 5-11-4 Rule for Posting Content on a Website.

In Conclusion

With a little forethought, planning, and possibly outsourcing, writing and posting consistently per week can be made easier, even if you have other, more demanding obligations.

First, let us get that lingering question in your mind out of the way.

Hay! What the frell is a Blu-ray?

A Blu-ray Disc (official abbreviation BD and official shortened name is Blu-ray) is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede theDVD format. The standard physical medium is a 12 cm plastic optical disc, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs (50 GB) the norm for feature-length video discs…The name Blu-ray Disc refers to the blue laser used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs.

What you need to Review a Blu-ray

These are the essentials for reviewing a movie on Blu-ray:

1.) An HD TV.

2.) A Blu-ray disc player.

3.) A surround sound stereo system. (Optional but it shouldn’t be since you can’t fully review the sound of a Blu-ray without it)

4.) A note pad and a pen.

5.) Time to dedicate to watching the film, its extras, and writing the drafts of your review. Time management comes into play.

Elements of your Blu-ray Movie Review

These are the elements of a Blu-ray that will make it creditable and worth reading:

1.) Review the film in question. If you have already written a film review for the film while in theater, great. Part of your work is already done.

2.) Review how the film “looks” on Blu-ray (Video).

3.) Review how the film “sounds” on Blu-ray (Audio).

4.) Review the extras on the Blu-ray. This part of the review is probably the easiest. All you have to do is give your impressions on the extras. People want to here about them and what they offer.

5.) List the Disc Details somewhere in your review. These include: Release Date, Rating (G, PG-13, R, NC-17), Disc Number, RCE, Video, Aspect, Anamorphic, Color, Audio, Subtitles, Extras, Easter Egg, Length, etc.

6.) Your overall impression of the blu-ray movie at the end of your review.

7.) A Blu-ray or Blu-ray Review category on your website. Such a category is good for site navigation (your Blu-ray reviews can be easily found) and is good for SEO.

The Title of your Review

I spoke about the title of your post here: Tips on Title Tags, Post Tags, and Movie Review Posting Strategies, here 4 Ways to Hammer Search Engine Terms, and here Keyword Placement for High SERPs (Search Engine Result Positions). The ideas from those posts apply to the title of your Blu-ray movie review.

Best Time to Post

Before the Blu-ray is released is probably best because people will be looking for reviews on it before they purchase it on Home Release Tuesday. That means search engine traffic for you if you optimize your post via SEO. The day the Blu-ray is released, its street date, is also good.

Cashing In

Throw in a couple links or actions button (written about here: Making Money with Amazon Associates on a Movie Website: The Deal Post and here: Making Money with Amazon Associates on a Movie Website: Automate) that allow the reader of your review to purchase the Blu-ray in question. Hot link the images in your Blu-ray review to purchase sites as well.

Back-linking

If you have some other posts and material on your site related to film you are reviewing (i.e. photos, trailers, etc.), back-link to some of them in your Blu-ray movie review if its appropriate and back-link to it correctly (i.e. name the link correctly, not generically). Example: Blu-ray Review: TRON: Legacy (2010) / TRON (1982): Five Disc Combo Set.

Giving Back

If the Blu-ray you are reviewing was obtained from a movie PR Firm, send them a link to your review after it is posted. They will probably ask you to send them a link after it has gone live but if they don’t, sending a link is just good edict. If a movie PR Firm gave you the film in advance: review the Blu-ray and get it online within the time frame they’ve given you. It makes you look good and will ensure that they fill your requests when you make them in the future.

Optional

Use an screen shot from the Blu-ray in your review as an example of its video quality. I say optional because not everyone has a Blu-ray player connected to their computer and thus can not take a quality screen shot of the film as its playing. If you are lucky, you can obtain Blu-ray images by doing a Google Image Search (written about here: 5 Movie Photo, Celebrity Picture, and Movie Poster Resources) for the Blu-ray movie in question. A picture or two will add visual flare to your review but is not necessary. It will even add ocular sweets to a post about writing Blu-ray movie reviews.

Olivia Wilde, Garett Hedlund, TRON: Legacy

In Conclusion

Writing a Blu-ray movie review can be a SEO, back-linking, money-making opportunity if handled correctly but you have an responsibility and obligation as a reviewer first and fore-most. The film on the Blu-ray disc should be reviewed just as you would an in-theater film then you should talk about everything else that makes the movie on Blu-ray a movie on Blu-ray.

I worked for a long time when I first started out to getting on many movie studio and PR firm mailing lists (the process is written about here: How to Contact Film Public Relations (PR) Firms). That is absolutely the wrong thing to do when you start out 99% of the time. What you should be concentrating on is posting content and making sure your website is constantly updated, which encourages site visitors to come back daily. If you start out with a fabulous looking website with multiple writers in tow, you are in that 1% that can shave off time to get yourself on a few mailing lists since the site will be updated regardless of your attention.

As I said previously, I got on the lists and soon I began receiving unsolicited Blu-rays, DVDs, and other promotional materials in the mail. The question is: what do you do with them after they have landed on your door step?

Example Time Bitc…You!

One example of this situation is what I just received in the mail, the Blu-ray of Love & other Drugs. Since I didn’t ask for the film on Blu-ray to review and do not wish to at this time, I will give the film away in a Blu-ray contest. I will set what every goal I have for the contest through the entry criteria. I spoke of this in detail here: How to Create and Run a Giveaway Contest on a Website.

There are many options on how to deal with unsolicited DVDs, Blu-rays, and promotional materials when you receive them in the mail.

Giveaway

Giveaway what you receive in the mail to your current readers or readers you hope to attract through proper promotion of your giveaway (written about here: How and When to Promote Contests, Giveaways, and Sweepstakes on Twitter to Maximize their Pageviews). This rewards your readers for their loyalty and patronage. It also gives them a tangible reason to revisit your site.

Review

Review the DVD or Blu-ray sent to you in the mail and post the review on your site.

Swag Post

Write an engaging story on it *ahem*. Write a fun post and tell your readers the swag you just recieved. I see these types of posts all the time. I saw them for TRON: Legacy, SAW, Wall-E, etc.

Your Employees

You could give them to your website employees as perks, put them in an office swag box, or give them away as work place incentives.

But always…

“…remained the Discipline of Steel.” – Conan the Barbarian, 1982. No matter what you choose to do with what your sent, one rule of thumb to live by is that you should always show the responsible parties that you did in fact use their unsolicited materials if you use their materials. If you have a contact person in the PR firm that sent you the item or in the movie studio itself, email them a link to your coverage (your post). I would suggest doing that the same day the post goes live but its up to you.

In Conclusion

Unsolicited DVDs, Blu-rays, and promotional materials can be valuable to your website, your RSS Feed, the number of people following you on Twitter and Facebook if you leverage them properly. If you have read Battlefield: Earth, you know how valuable leverage can be. If gain is not your goal but fun is, you have options in that venue as well. The best part of unsolicited material is that if you don’t want to use it, you don’t have to. You didn’t ask the PR firm or the movie studio to send it to you.

Jennifer Stone, Maiara Walsh, Meaghan Martin, Mean Girls 2

Embeddable Video Players you can fully Brand with Ad Options

IndieClickTV offers a embeddable video player you can fully brand with website watermark, title, color, etc. but this player is not free to use. Bloody-Disgusting and Twitch both use IndieClickTV’s embeddable player. These are high traffic movie websites so the marketability of the player, tracking, and branding options out way the cost for them. Players like this help to keep your video content semi-exclusive. IndieClickTV also lets you place your website’s logo in the player as well so if someone embeds it on their website, you get a free ad on their website. The Flow Player is also an option along these lines and has a WordPress plugin available as is Rave.

Embeddable Video Players you can partially Brand with Ad options

YouTube allows you to partially brand their video player but no water marking though. The player does show your Channel name when it is not playing or when it has finished playing so chose your Channel name wisely. It can be a marketing tool if chosen correctly. For our movie website’s channel, we chose FilmBookdotComTV. When you become a member of YouTube Partnership Program, more options open up such as some ability to brand the YouTube page the player plays and ads. Regardless of the Partnership program, if the video you upload is popular, YouTube will email you and ask if you would like that video included in their revenue sharing program (Google AdSense). As a partner, you will also be able to place Google AdSense Ads on your Channel page. One of the best parts of the YouTube is that you can title and retitle your uploaded YouTube video whatever you want however times you want. You can even place your URL in the title.

Firstshowing uses the JW FLV Player – I believe – which is free (and has a WordPress plugin version) and JoBlo uses some type of in-house player. I haven’t looked at the source code on the pages that displayed their players so don’t quote me. Whatever they are using, the players give them the ability to watermark their presentations with their logos.

Embeddable Video Player with Ad options

Moyea Web Player Pro

Embeddable Video Players you can Brand Partially

Vimeo, DailyMotion, Blip.tv all let you upload videos and brand the video with your user name. Vimeo comes with a few more branding options including anchor text underneath the player.

No Fuss or Bother Embeddable Video Players

If you could care less about branding, ads, and simply want to show your readers movie trailers and etc. quickly, Yahoo, TrailerAddict, MySpace, Moviefone, MTV, Hulu, TrailerSpy are available choices. The companies behind this simplistic video embed options do care about branding however and brand their players with watermarks and various company propaganda.

Other Available Embeddable Video Players

Embedr (WordPress plugin)

MC Media Player

Any FLV Player

In Conclusion

As was mentioned in 7 Movie Trailer Resources (which touches on where to obtain video files to upload), there are a myriad of different movie trailer embed options for a film website to utilize. You just have to decide what you want out of the embeddable players you chose to use on your movie website.