The Huge Opportunity in Online, Video-based Instruction Guides - My Rant for February

OK, so I want to drop some weight, get into shape and (of course) work on my abs. Part of that New Year's Resolution thing. Good news is that I have a great Weider home gym system in my basement. Bad news is that the last time it gave me a workout was when I put it together 2 years ago. So there's that contraption on one side of it that I think is for my abs, but I'm not sure if I'm using it right. No problem, I'll jump on their website and see if they have any instructional video clips showing how I should use each station. Hmm, no videos, no luck.

Last weekend I was trying to reset the remotes to my Craftsman garage door openers after replacing the batteries. Wouldn't work even though I thought I was following the instruction manual. No problem, I'll just jump onto the product's website and find an instructioinal video on how to reset the remote opener. Hmmm, no luck again.

More! Recently... how does the new Lexus GS Bluetooth phone capability work? How do I use the drywall patch for the hole in my bathroom wall? How do I transfer money from ETrade to Fidelity? Jump online but no video, no video, no video.

Video, video everywhere, but where's the instruction?
My wife and I came home from dinner and the babysitter shows us a video clip on her cell phone of our kids having a great time. TiVo is rolling out TiVoToGo. Downloading video is now fast using BitTorrent. 75% of us are online, over half the homes in the US have broadband, so where are all the instructional videos?

People used to talk about OOBE (out of box experience) for consumer electronics. What about OLIE (On-Line Instructional Experience)? Broadband will continue to spread. Speeds will get faster. BitTorrent will be followed more user-friendly technologies.

How is Home Depot Doing with this Natural Fit?
Hmm, maybe Home Depot is already doing this, let me hop over there and see... Well, three clicks in they do have a video center. That's good. They are using clips from This Old House. Clever! But (and this is where I go crazy) what a horrible interface design. I see they have 9 new videos... but where are the old videos? Where's the master list, the menu, the table of contents, an index, anything! OK, maybe they just have a real good search engine... I see "Installing Drywall" is a video title... what happens if I type that into their search window? Wow, a whopping 1 search result called "Drywall Tools". Even though I searched on the exact title of their video their own search engine couldn't find it. HomeDepot is really blowing it. Hey, what about their rival Lowes? Hmm, can't find any videos at all over there.

The Huge Opportunity
This is online instruction and this is MARKETING. If I was a product manager for anything (pharmaceuticals, cars, power tools, toys, cookware) I'd make online instructional videos my #1 priority for 2005 and I'd sell the quality of service/help/support/instruction.

If I wasn't already invested in several businesses and leading a startup I'd become an aggregator of instructional videos. Partner with a sector leader (home appliances is a natural, furniture that requires assembly another, consumer electronics a third) and shoot video versions of their assembly and support manuals. Provide good chunking and search capabilities. Make money on ads, sponsorships, add-on sales (Need an extended warranty for that new Kenmore Dryer? Have you decided you'd rather have your garbage disposal installed by a pro? Click here!).

Hey, full-screen high quality video might be needed for entertainment. But for simple, short how-to segments I'm fine if the window is a little small, or the load time is a few seconds or the image is a little grainy. Digital video equipment is cheap. How to videos don't require expensive creative, sets or special effects. Come on, this isn't hard! Anyone out there ready to tackle this?

Drop me an e-mail on your thoughts. Already you already doing it? Know of good examples of this? Know of bad? Let me know what you think.

- Kevin
kkruse@e-learningguru.com