I watch way too much web video. And you know what? Most of it is painfully bad. Here are a few of my pet peeves.

• Rambling – cut to the chase. Don’t just ramble on. Actually this points to a big problem that separates good web video from bad. Writing. Not good writing vs. bad writing. No writing vs. some writing. Some writing makes you better than 90% of amateur video. Know what you are going to say before you start. And edit it down to the best stuff.
• Bad lighting – I’m a photographer, so I’m picky, but when it comes to web video, bad lighting leads to bad color and bad color sucks. This is especially true of videos shot on built in cameras. Even with non-built in cameras, can’t you shoot a test and see we can’t see half you face? Turn on a light.
• Hand held video – OK, there are times you have to hold it in your hands. But a tripod ain’t that expensive. Rock steady video looks lots better and isn’t that hard to do.
• Bad sound – Huh, what did you say? Couldn’t hear you because you voice was so low. Maybe that is because you are 10 feet from the camera and its mike. Try taking your iPod headphones and plug them into your camera and see what it sounds like. And you can get some cheap wireless microphones from Radio Shack and improve your sound 1000%.

Want you video to be better than the majority of others? Buy a tripod and some wireless mikes. Write a script, and make sure you have enough light. Not that hard people.