Tutorial Videos (DemoWolf, etc.)

May 29, 2012 by raindog308

I spent some time looking at DemoWolf.

DemoWolf allows you to submit a logo and in return they brand thousands of demonstration videos for end users.  They’re made available by installing a player on your web site.  So you, as a web host, could then turn around and say “we have thousands of tutorial videos for customer use”.  Also, if you get a support ticket asking how to dosomething, you could potentially just respond with a link to a video that shows the customer how to do what they want.

Neat idea, and DemoWolf has been around for a while.  However, there are some problems:

Very Generic.  You can find all of these videos on many sites (and watch them on DW’s own site).  DW doesn’t require that you password-protect them or make them available only for customers.  So there’s no reason I couldn’t watch the videos on Hosting Company A’s site and then use the information on Hosting Company B’s site.

They’re Expensive.  Figure $50/month. I say that because while they have lower-priced offerings, the reality is that it’s hard to know which videos customers are going to want.

They’re Not That Good.  They’re not bad but they’re mostly step-by-step task procedures.  Want to change a password?  Click here, click there, congratulations, end of video.  They don’t get into anything more advanced than that.  Sure, that’s good for lots of things like ticket replies, but for a lot of their series, the info isn’t that good (e.g., I can’t imagine learning WHMCS or cPanel reselling through their videos).

So I’m thinking of making my own.  I used to podcast and have the audio/video software and gear (though my Shure SM58 is too sensitive, but that’s a good problem to have).  A standard opening/closing is easy enough, and then it’s a screencast.  I’d need a few weeks to do the major how-to and then after that it could be a regular release.

In the end, I think I could easily make videos that are as good as DW’s, though perhaps not as broad…e.g., I have an iPhone to demonstrate how to setup mail, but not an Android, etc.

Still ruminating…many other things to do first

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