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39 Ways to Place Yourself on the Web

Whether you’re interested in blogging, making music, shooting videos, publishing your fresh, or early your own social network, these fantastic air force can help–in many cases, for free.

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Illustration by Mick Wiggins

The Web is not a spectator sport. Sure, you can watch videos and do countless other low-brainwave activities online, but the Web’s outlets for self-expression and creativity are boundless. In fact, the medium doesn’t come alive until you take advantage of the participatory Web–the sites and air force that can present you and your talents to the world.

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Whatever your passion–making video, networking with acquaintances or colleagues, blogging, running a business, making music, or publishing a fresh–you’re bound to find a site or service that can help you pursue your goals. While many of these air force are free, others may charge from a few bucks to thousands of dollars. We’ll give you our favorites in each category. And in our companion tale, “Six Rising Stars on the New Web,” we’ll introduce you to six people who are making a living by distributing their creative efforts on the Web.

Star in Your Own Videos

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The best thing about a lot of video-posting sites is that they let you earn cash based on the number of views your videos generate. And if you’re a fledgling auteur, some can help you get exposed by the entertainment industry.

Metacafe Metacafe claims over 1 million users a day. Equally vital to video creators, though, is the site’s revenue-sharing program, which pays $5 for every 1000 views, even if payments don’t arrive until your clip receives 20,000 views and an average viewer rating of 3 stars (out of 5) or higher.

RevverAnother income-sharing site is Revver, which offers a 50-50 revenue split based on views and ad clicks. You can disable the ads that run previous to your video starts. Some Revver clips play on Verizon Wireless VCast phones, which extends your opportunity for cash and exposure.

CrackleIf you’re waiting for Hollywood to learn you, Crackle can be your online casting agent. This Sony-owned site limits file uploads to 100MB, so don’t post your feature film here. Crackle’s contests place forward prizes such as pitch meetings with studio execs.

VeohSeveral innovative features distinguish Veoh, a hidden gem whose video-playback feature is a notch above that of most sites. If you have an account on Google Video, MySpace, or YouTube, Veoh involuntarily posts your clip to those sites too (you must activate this feature first). And it imposes no size limit on video uploads–a infrequency.

YouTubeIt’s no secret that YouTube has the largest audience of video viewers, so genuinely you’ll want to post there. The site’s playback feature isn’t fantastic, particularly when compared with that of Crackle and other newer sites. You won’t find a video site that’s simpler to use, but, and its Video Toolbox section provides helpful shooting and editing tips from the pros.

SpikeFormerly known as iFilm, Spike provides a platform for fledgling filmmakers. You can embed your Spike-hosted clips on personal sites, including blogs and MySpace pages. The service offers no revenue sharing, though. Your file uploads can be as large as 500MB–many sites limit you to 100MB.

JibJab is the place to submit video jokes: You’ll find everything from stand-up routines to the ever-hilarious guy getting kicked in the groin. JibJab accepts photo, audio, and text jokes too. The site’s editors choose if your bits are pun enough to post; if they’re not, well, there’s permanently YouTube.

Yahoo VideoYahoo Video lets you link clips to your blog and drive traffic to your site.

Google VideoVideos are a breeze to upload at Google Video, thanks to the service’s intuitive (and bare-bones) interface. The site provides an optional desktop uploader for files larger than 100MB. It doesn’t place forward revenue sharing, and we’d like to see more (or at least some) integration with YouTube, but Google Video’s huge-name pedigree and utter simplicity make it a excellent place to post your videos.

Be the Center of Your Social Network

If you’ve went beyond Facebook, LinkedIn, or Orkut and are ready to build your own online community, either for personal or qualified use, these sites will let you make a social network, complete with discussion forums, RSS feeds, member profiles, and other essentials. Constructing a simple social network expenditure nothing, but you’ll likely want to upgrade to the sites’ paid air force as your network gains members, or to remove the ads that show on networks you build for free.

NingThe best design tools we’ve seen for building a social network are at Ning. Organize your network’s main page by dragging a text box, forum widget, or other component into the layout window. Then select fonts, colors, background images, and other page elements. Invite acquaintances and associates by importing addresses from AOL Mail, Gmail, MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and other Web mail air force–but not from Outlook or any other desktop mail clients, unfortunately. Your finished product has a polished and qualified appearance.

A close second is Nexo, which provides a fantastic site builder that is simple enough for anyone to use. Just choose a design template, or start out with a blank page and insert your choice of more than two dozen modules, including forums, feeds, images, and polls.

KickAppsThe page-design tools at KickApps are targeted more at Web-savoir-faire developers who have built sites previous to. Getting your KickApps network to look the way you want may take time, but experienced designers will appreciate the site’s advanced tool kit.

Me.comFor people whose Web-design experience ends with their MySpace profile, there’s Me.com, where setting up a network is a snap. You won’t find the type of top-notch customization tools that Ning offers, or KickApps’ developer-friendly features. And Me.com has a few weird quirks: For instance, you can’t upload a video into the viewer, but must instead import a feed frankly from a Webcam. The service is for personal, not qualified, networks.

CollectiveXCollectiveX offers many business-friendly features, but it lacks the customization and hand-holding options that you can find on other social-network sites. You can import contacts frankly from Outlook and Outlook Express, as well as from the major Web mail clients. Setup is a bit confusing; the service could use more Ning-style help guides. But, your finished CollectiveX page will be nicely organized and visually appealing.

Blog for Show, Blog for Dough

Getting your blog read takes more than compelling prose. These sites will help you attract and hold an audience.

The Vox blog editor makes count photos, audio files, videos, and other nontext elements to your blog as simple as clicking a huge, clearly labeled button at the top of the screen.Click here to view full-size image.Vox has the best blog editor we’ve tested. To add an image, song, or video to an entry, just click the appropriate button above the text window. You can embed a reader poll or other widget on your page, too. Vox’s larger sibling is TypePad–both are owned by blogging-air force provider Six Apart. TypePad has the powerful design tools that qualified bloggers crave, offering simple drag-and-drop design and more customization tools than other blog sites provide. Six Apart won’t place ads on your blog, but you can supply your own via a third-p