One of the great things about video is you can make up for lack of technical skills with something much more powerful. In fact most of the folks who have created massive followings with their videos, rely on this one characteristic:

The power of personality.

And one of the folks who have leveraged this to create an online following is Justine Ezarik. Also known as iJustine.

Gogeous. 20-something. But also a confirmed nerd (like alot of us) who shoots and edits her own video (like alot of us would like to). Who would rather spend time at the Apple Store than a singles bar (like alot of us). Who’s idea of hot is Steve Jobs instead of the studs from the latest “Twilight” movie.

Here she does a 2009 Year in Review Video of her doing a dance in every Apple Store she visited during the year:

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Most of us will never be as attractive as iJustine. But the fact she loves all things geek, would rather gush about her new digital camera than the latest heart throb and does her year in review video dancing in the Apple Store connects with us.

Now make no mistake. Being attractive helps. But you don’t need it to attract a massive YouTube following. Check out Nalts. A regular middle aged guy, with kids and a family. And over 158,000 (that’s not a typo) YouTube subscribers.

Including this hysterical video all Twitter addicts will relate to:
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So how can we apply the lessons from iJustine (and Nalts) to leverage the power of personality to boost our own followings?

Let your cat out of the bag: What are the personality traits your clients and customers love, but you KNOW you couldn’t possibly get out there because it “isn’t professional”?  In this age of connection people more and more are looking for real people to buy from. So be real. Funny. In all your dorky magnificence. Because if its something your current customers love, chances are all the folks you want to buy from you will love it too.

Play against type: iJustine is a gorgeous geek. Nalts is a family guy with a wicked sense of humor. Yes, you can make a go of it being predictable. But when you play against type you endear yourself to your market. You are memorable. You stand out. And in a sea of wannabees, that is something you can take to the bank.

Humor: Who doesn’t need a good laugh? Your prospects certainly do. And when they know they can rely on you for a great LOL every week (and not just sell-sell-sell) they are gonna stay in touch with you. And when they stay in touch, you can sneak in a little sell-sell and they won’t mind a bit. Humor doesn’t have to mean telling jokes. Like Nalts’ Twitter video above, it can simply be tapping into something your market shares, but no one talks about.

Leverage the part of your personality people respond to: We can’t be 100% ourselves all the time because there is too much of us to fit into today*s short attention spans. So focus on what I call Your Marketing Persona. Those facets of your personality that create a connection with your prospects. This isn’t faking it. Its simply making a conscious choice about which aspect of your personality you want to feature in your communications with your audience.

You don’t have to be a star to make this work. (In fact, being a star can get in the way). Just start to see the marketing world as a stage, and simply show up as someone memorable, yet entirely in sync with who you really are.