Today I’m going to proudly introduce you a life-saving video service: Videojug.com. I have mentioned it before and now you have a great possibility to have a look from inside at it. Please, welcome Nancy Cruickshank, Chief Executive Officer of VideoJug Corporation.

1. Could you please tell us about some specific features of your video service? What makes Videojug so special?

VideoJug has created the largest global library of short-form factual content. With circa 50,000 professionally produced films, we advise, inspire & entertain our audiences across a wide range of subject areas – from Food & Drink to Beauty & Style and on into Technology, Health & much more. VideoJug has also developed one of the most effective video players available on the web achieving over 90% customer satisfaction ratings. As the site grows, so does the community. We have busy discussion boards on almost every topic and people get actively involved in rating and commenting on all of our films, fuelling debate and discussion around our topics. We actively encourage people to share their own knowledge and wisdom on anything in life, and are constantly working on new tools to encourage this.

2. The users are able to upload videos of their own. How do you manage to sort them all? Because, the videos available are of a great quality.

Quality is vital to us, our audience & our advertisers. We review every film uploaded to the site and each one has to go through a quality check process with our producers. We also have some really prolific users who are producing their own quality films on a vast range of subjects, so we have a team of editors who curate our user generated content. We want to be credible when the customer comes to the site and we want the experience to be a consistently positive one. Our content must be useful. We refer to our users as ‘proactive knowledge seekers and sharers’.

3. How big is your community and how many videos are viewed/uploaded per day?

VideoJug has over 350,000 registered users who have the ability to comment, rate and discuss the huge range of video content available. Users are able to upload not only videos but also webcam videos, articles and slideshows. We receive approximately 1,000 pieces of content a month which then go through our editorial approval process. VideoJug attracts over 160,000 global visits per day, 4+ million unique users per month and 300,000 video views per day.

4. Do you use Videojug to make your own life easier? Was it ever so that you could not find the right solution within the service?

I LOVE our recipes and have converted many of my friends to the service.

5. What was the best video/advice you happened to come across on the website?

I think that our ‘how to beat box’ and ‘how to moonwalk’ films are fantastic and they always make me smile! I also rate our building self-confidence films. How to walk into a room and exude self-confidence is genuinely compelling and helpful in my view.

6. Please, tell us more about the competition and its winners.

VideoJug runs a monthly competition giving video uploaders the chance to win up to £1,000 / $2,000. Users just need to submit their videos to VideoJug and the prizes will go to the 3 videos that have the highest number of views during each month. The winning videos each month also have to be liked by the VideoJug community – so, even if a video draws a huge audience, it must also achieve a 3 star rating or above to be eligible for one of the three top prizes: 1st Prize £1,000 / $2,000 2nd Prize £500/ $1,000 3rd Prize £250/$500.

So far, VideoJug’s users have already contributed some great videos to the Made by You channel showing other users how to make 3D glasses, curl hair with straighteners, or get a flat stomach in under 9 minutes ! Whether practical advice, hilarious skits or educational insights – VideoJug welcomes it all!

7. Your website has a very nice and handy interface. How many upgrades did it take for VideoJug to have its today’s look?

We are continuously upgrading and improving the site for our users. Since VideoJug launched in September 2006, we have made a range of changes that have contributed to increased dwell time, return visitors and registered users including:

1. Introduction of a fresher and crisper design sitewide to improve usability and navigation.
2. Development of successful new content types – interactive quizzes and informative text articles and a pop-up information box to describe its format (video, text, quiz etc), what it’s about and any other useful info such as film duration, and ratings.
3. Enhanced navigation and organization throughout the site and new video player controls.
4. Greater editorial presence and improved systems of content recommendations.
5. New tools and features to encourage user engagement and participation including user profiles and forums.
6. Ability for users to subscribe to different content areas, receive updates and alerts that are specifically relevant to them, as well as our increasingly popular monthly newsletter.

8. All of the videos have laconic and informative names. Do you have a special person for this or do the users themselves give names to their videos?

Each video title has been researched and created by our in-house professional production team for one of three reasons; it has viral potential, is easily found by the search engines, or has been recommended by our users. Each video is accurately named according to the actual content contained within the film. In the case of user generated content (5%), the individual user decides on the name of the film as we perceive the original creator as the most reliable judge of the video’s content.

9. So far, how many videos were shot by VideoJug staff?

There are currently over 50,000 videos on VideoJug. The majority of this video library (95%) has been produced by us at our production studios. All VideoJug content has been carefully researched and professionally produced in high definition with an eye toward quality and value. The video content on the site takes a variety of formats that include informative “How To” and “Ask The Expert” films that guide you, step-by-step, through everything and anything in life. The “How To” format delivers easy-to-follow, bite-size tutorials on a wide variety of topics from cleaning tips and sport, to relationship advice and recipes. We search the globe to find leading experts in their respective fields for the “Ask the Expert” format - be they celebrities, professors, high-flying professionals, coaches, teachers, or consultants - who provide answers to common questions and concerns. There are a growing number of articles on the site as well.

Stop for a moment and think how much time you spend watching online videos. I bet, not less than couple of hours a week. And where do you usualy go for videos? YouTube? I bet yes, because it seems to be the No.1 place for videos. But don’t you ever get tired of Tube’s interface? And don’t you ever wonder if a video service can be more than that? In this article I’m going to familiarize you with some really good alternatives.

In fact, anyone can set up a video service of his own. So, there are many of them present in the web. But very few are well done and seem to be really interesting. Here are short reviews of the video services I liked very much:

Current TV is a huge peer-to-peer news and information network. The site is produced and programmed in collaboration with its audience. Despite the fact that anyone can submit any kind of information, Current does not look like a junkyard at all (which YouTube actually is). The whole website is done in black, white & green and looks really nice. The interface is very friendly, so that you won’t need to spend hours getting used to it. Speaking about the content, it has no concrete concept and I’m sure you will find many interesting things while just scrolling the front page. So, if you want to watch some viral news & unique videos - go to Current and enjoy yourself in a big & really friendly community. And as an example, in case you love the Beatles - here is a unique thing for you to watch on Current.com

This website has a unique design that from the first second makes you feel very comfortable & relaxed. It is done in white, black green & yellow, but apart from current, which makes you concentrate, Revision3 gives you a feeling of sitting on your favourite sofa & watching your favourite show. Revision3 is an actual TV network for the web, creating and producing its own original, broadcast quality shows. The content is designed for passionate committed fans who want to watch shows that entertain, educate and help expand their life experiences. All in all, Revision is both a good relaxing and educating video service. And the high quality content will make you want to come there again and again.

Another place you shall visit for unique videos and interesting design is Videojug. It was launched in September 2006 and is actually a huge library of free factual video content online. The website provides professionally-produced, high definition videos which cover every conceivable topic and the site is the definitive online “encyclopaedia of life”. Anyone is free to upload his own videos and there is also a forum, where you can ask for answers after watching a video(in case something will be still unclear to you). They also have a contest for the best “How To” video, so if you are a creative person, you’d better give it a try. Speaking about Videojug in general, it can be a great source for answers to any problem you may experience in your life. And the best thing is that everything is explained through videos, so that it’s both informative and very intertaining.

Expert Village is a video service that provides answers to your everyday questions. As you can guess from the name of the service, all the tips & advices are given by experts. At the moment Expert Village provides 148,873 videos and the number grows every day! This video service is a one stop destination to get well-researched, practical, and free information. In addition to the scores of educational and informative videos, Expert Village has interactive community features that allow visitors to provide video reviews as well as have a user-to-user “Q & A” sessions where members can ask a question about a topic and then have the community contribute helpful answers. This way, Expert Village is a video service that will give answers to all of your questions!

All the video services listed are growing incredibly fast and for the February 2008 Current had 492,721 unique visitors, Revision - 77,873, Videojug - 334,132 and Expert Village - 616,607, which appears to be more than 100% growth for any of them. I hope you liked at least one of them and in case you have some favourite video services of your own - please, let us know and in case they are really unique & interesting we will write about them with a great pleasure. And of course, do not forget that once you’re bored you can visit our video section.