Everyone knows that TV and the Web are melding. Videos are increasingly being used on the Web. comScore.com yesterday reported that U.S. Internet users viewed 12.7 billion online videos in November 2008, a 34% increase over the same time a year earlier. On YouTube this past November, 5.1 billion videos were viewed; more than 146 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 87 videos each, and the average online video viewer watched 273 minutes of video.

What’s really scary is that in my lifetime, we’ll probably be able to click on the couch that Oprah sits on and see its manufacturer and lowest price vendor. (My wife will bankrupt me!)

The benefits of using video on the Web are undeniable and Advisor Products is responding to the trend. We posted video-help two weeks ago for AdvisorVault, our secure online platform for sharing documents with clients and other professionals.

Steve Schopp, a staffer here responsible for training advisory firm personnel on AdvisorVault, tells me he is suddenly spending a fraction of the time on previously needed one-on-one training. Steve says he shows our clients where they can find the video help and tells them to call with any questions. What was previously a one-hour training session now takes about five minutes. While we also have a user’s manual with detailed textual instructions and screen shots, watching a video is much easier (and I’m a writer). Our vault-help videos cover the following topics:

Advisor Products is currently working on a project to provide videos for advisors to use on their websites. More about that in a few weeks.