YouTube And Grow
YouTube offers an incomparable opportunity to expand on any effort to distribute your message via video be it for your business, a hobby, or for sharing with any online community. Weather you have a web cam or professional level video recorder you can easily prepare videos and upload them once you have a YouTube account. Joining YouTube is not only simple it is also FREE!
While you don’t need to have a YouTube account to view videos you will need to if you are going to upload your own and have your own identity or “Channel”. Even if you don’t take advantage of this capability initially there are many other features that require an account you may want to take advantage of. It allows you to create your own lists selected from a variety of categories of videos that include Autos & Vehicles, Comedy, Entertainment, Film & Animatios, News & Politics, Sports, and more.
Joining YouTube
To join click the Sign Up button location at the upper-right corner of the YouTube home page. Once there you will have to select the type of account you desire which include the following:
- Standard User - Also know as “YouTuber” this is the most common selection.
- Director - Allows the use of an expanded profile using logos and the like for professional content creators, directors or filmmakers.
- Musician - Expanded profiles geared toward music videos and the like
- Comedian - Like the other two above, this is geared toward professionals or semi-professionals within a specific venue.
- Guru - Select you own subject and enjoy the expanded benefits of the more specific categories. This is what you want if you intend to crate instructional videos.
The rest is brief and simple requiring an email address, user name, password, country, postal code, gender and birth date. Read the “terms of use” and “privacy policy” before deciding if you want to leave the “Broadcast Yourself” box checked.
Creating and Uploading Video
Don’t be daunted by any lack of experience you may have producing quality video. You can use anything from simple cell phone files to professional production level videos. The quality will be reflected by the care you take in production and the equipment used but a wide variety of files are acceptable. The files you upload will be converted to “Flash” for display from the YouTube site. The basic restrictions relate to time length and file size; 10 minutes and 100 mega bytes respectively. More information can be found in the YouTube Handbook.
Uploading your videos is simple as well. Log in to your account then click “Upload” button in the menu area along the top of your YouTube page. You will arrive at the Video Upload page with information form asking for a Title, Description, Tags and a Category. Next, you can choose a radio button to make your video “Public” or to limit the visibility to a select group of up to 25 by selecting the “Private” button. Now you’re ready to click the “Upload a Video” button which will take you to a dialog box that will let you browse for the file to be uploaded.
Other options for getting video to your channel include Quick Capture using a web cam or uploading directly from your mobile phone. In both cases getting video up to your YouTube page is quick and easy at the expense of quality.
Exploring the YouTube Community
YouTube has a convenient search interface allowing you to find videos for any purpose you wish to pursue. You can easily save them by being logged in and clicking “Favorites” to add the file to your favorites. Any time you wish to view the file log into your account and click on favorites to see the list of files you’ve saved.
Building “Playlists” lets you categorize collections of videos. You can play individual files or watch the entire list if you choose. You can also use this feature to organize your own videos as well. If you wish to share a list simply use the “Share This Playlist” option. You can share videos or playlists with Friends or Contacts. If you share with someone else they are automatically added to your Contacts.
“Contact List” are a convenient way to distribute your message to a particular group of people. After you log in go to “Friends and Contacts” then “Create New List.” Name the list as you like be it “School”, “Work” or whatever represents the distribution you will send. While marketers may be drooling here the number of messages sent are limited. Check the handbook for current restrictions.
Subscriptions allow you to keep track of your favorite YouTube members or for your followers to keep track of you. You simply locate a channel and click subscribe. Keep your promotion of your product or service interesting and easy to follow and watch it grow. Followers can leave comments and you can enter replies regarding your video just a you can leave comments for others. You can even leave a video reply if you so choose. Unsubscribing from a channel is just as easy.
Groups are another way to garner a following of like minded users. Groups are places commonly developed around a specific topic. Here you will attract those with similar interests; simple target marketing if that is your objective. Here members can upload videos, make comments and the like.
This post just touches on the versatility of the YouTube interface. You can access RSS feeds, crate API call and response apps. There are also hacks that are not condoned such as downloading videos for playback with a FLV player. Explore these as you wish. And last but not least, YouTube provides code that you can copy and paste into your website with ease. It is simply a blessing that such a utility for promotion is available and available for free!!!
