VideoJug Dispenses Life Advice via Film

When I first got word of a new web site called VideoJug, I assumed it was yet another personal video-sharing venue. It's not. It's a trove of more than 18,000 videos of "experts" explaining everything from how to do basic bicycle maintenance to the symptoms of heart disease to how to make tasty pet treats.

VideoJug's motto is Life Explained on Film, and Doug Kamin, VideoJug's senior VP of marketing, says thousands of how-to and explanatory videos will be added every month. VideoJug's production crews have filmed experts in various fields in high definition. You can check their bios to determine whether you think each is qualified.

The site accepts videos from the public, too, but they appear on the site only after they have been vetted by production teams. Kamin says when they find an expert with lots to say, they make about 100 short videos—30 seconds to five minutes long—on various topics. The experts do it for the exposure and the chance to have an online portfolio to point to. The business model for the free site is advertising, but the aim is to have advertisers sponsor sections of the site so there are no pop-up ads or distracting video ads.

I checked out the family and parenting video section and found a parenting educator and child custody consultant dispensing advice on parenting basics, dealing with divorce,  and others speaking on infant nutrition and sleep patterns, adoption, and adolescent nutrition. You have to weigh when someone is just offering helpful information or marketing their own services. For example, a child-proofing business owner cautions parents against installing their own childproofing gates! I'm sorry, but I don't believe everyone needs to hire someone to childproof a home.

VideoJug launched in the UK in September 2006 and this month in the United States. Think of it as a research site for the visual learner. I like to read, so I lose patience pretty quickly with some of the videos because it takes longer to get useful bits of information. But for visual learners, this would be a truly welcome site and worth checking out. You just need to use your judgment when deciding which experts are truly worth listening to.