Building a YouTube Channel That Sells

Since it first popped onto the scene about five years ago, YouTube has had a profound impact on everything we do in Internet Marketing, MLM, and home business. How's that for a big statement. Seriously, though, YouTube is a pretty big deal if you sell things for a living, not because it's super different from any other selling tactics, but because it offers so many opportunities to do something new and interesting with the content you already have.

Why to Use YouTube

We want to know how to use video to impress and convince our viewers to sign up for lists, ask for more information, and eventually buy our products or sign on as new distributors. The reason YouTube is so great for this has little to do with the site itself and more to do with the fact that the people you're trying to reach are pretty impatient and video is the perfect medium for people without an attention span.

Video allows you to make a statement quickly with visual panache, then distribute a short message to millions with the click of a button. It also doesn't cost very much to produce video these days. Not much more expensive than the production of quality text content, video can stand out without breaking the bank. Free software that comes on Macs and PCs along with inexpensive screen capture software, built-in webcams, and phones can make for easy production in no time flat.

How to Create a Winning YouTube Presence

What works on YouTube though? Anything if you know how to present your ideas properly. You could put together a video of an article you just wrote in less than 20 minutes or you could sit down and dictate some interesting information on your webcam or you could put in a few days of hard work and create a full scale production complete with music, multiple camera angles and special effects.

All of those methods have worked in the past to make their creators a lot of money in this industry. The key is not in what the video looks like but in what it provides for your viewers. To put it simply, people like to learn things and to be entertained. Do both and you're set. Here are some tips to get you there:

Avoid Cheesiness - Cheesy gimmicks, silly jokes, and other awkward stuff will scare people away. They want authenticity. If you cannot be funny and authentic together, you should stick to a serious, informative series of videos.
Test Different Formats - There are many format options that work on YouTube. I've posted a lot of videos that are really just PowerPoint presentations of articles I wrote. They took five minutes to export into a PowerPoint template, add a music track to and upload and they get a decent number of hits. Webinars on a webcam work very well too, especially if you already have a small blog or social media following to send to YouTube.
Make it Easy to Find - Make sure you create a channel that is easy to find and navigate. Do thorough keyword research and choose terms not only for your channel home page, but for every video you upload.
Commenting - You can't comment on your own video (well, not without looking silly), but you can comment on other videos and drive those visitors back to your site. Think of your YouTube channel like a Twitter feed or a blog - you have to get out there and drive comment traffic back to you.

YouTube is an amazing tool, but it only works if you put a good amount of effort into it. Uploading a single video to YouTube and waiting for people to make it viral doesn't work. You need to upload videos regularly - at least weekly or biweekly - and get involved in the YouTube community. Only then can you honestly expect to gain anything substantial for your investment.

Starting a YouTube Channel

Starting a YouTube channel to market your business, product, service or talent is a great way to build social equity. Once you build an army of subscribers on YouTube, the audience will be attuned to whatever videos you share next and you can use this to your advantage.

In under one year you can accumulate a million subscribers to your YouTube channel. Think about that for a minute and try to comprehend the magnitude of that kind of marketing power. If you have a million people subscribed to your channel and you post a new video, you will likely have 100,000 views instantly. If you package a message into the video about your business, product, service or talent, you will become a web sensation and make a living at the same time.

There are many stars on YouTube that are making a full time living from YouTube alone but there are also many people who are making a living from their YouTube earnings as well as the earnings from other income related to their YouTube channel. You can earn money from the YouTube partner program when Google ads appear in your videos and to the side of your videos. You can also earn money by placing links on your site for viewers to click on so they can visit your other business sites.

A great way to get traffic to your channel is through article marketing. You can also build up a base of subscribers by having a Twitter account and building a following. However, the fastest way to build up a base of subscribers on YouTube is to have good content. Your videos will only go viral if you wow your audience.

How To Start Your Own Video Channel On YouTube

* Backdrop and Shower curtain from Wal-Mart: $18

* Tripod from Sears: $30

* Expensive, Wireless Headphone (with "compander circuitry") that sounds like crap: $100

* Cheap-looking, Wired Headphone that just works: $20

* Pink-shade Table Lamp: $10

* 100W bulb (that you need to keep switching off between takes because the lamp-shade says it can handle only 40W): $2

* CyberLink PowerDirector: $90

* Getting great feedback from (rather kind) friends and family who enjoyed your spirited attempt: Priceless!

Ok, I finally gave in to my alter ego ("Wilson") and started a channel on YouTube.

Had a lot of fun creating the videos. Here's what I ended up learning (and buying), in order to make a half-decent video:

* Ventriloquism is 60% "funny script", 30% "sense of humor and timing" and only 10% "mouth-not-moving skills"

* You need to have a decent back-drop (read, your computer desk in the background really sucks). So, got some fabric from Walmart for $6, an extra long shower curtain for $12, and walla - bearable background for my videos! I just placed the shower curtain on the front edge of my book shelf - so didn't even have to bring out the screwdriver (or my drill) - and no nails were hurt during the hanging of my backdrop.

* Need a tripod - so got a 66″ tripod (~ $30) from Sears - ordered online and picked up the same evening in-store. The 3rd-party merchant I found on Amazon that was selling the 70″ tripod I really wanted, said it would take 3 weeks to ship. I wanted it like, er, "yesterday". So, 6 inches short, sure, but got it in 3 hours flat.

* You need more-than-good-enough sound. My spanking new $100 wireless headphone bought-just-for-this worked like crap. Went back to my old $20 wired, brandless headphones that I bought from Staples 4 years ago, and the sound is like 10 times better (see difference in sound between video #1 and #2 below). So all you really need is a half-decent mike - don't splurge on the microphones, unless you have the $500+ ones.

* Need good video editing software - have had PowerDirector for a few years now - have edited a few home videos and stuff. Paid for an updated version - it kicks butt and has pretty much everything a non-power-user would need. Very happy with PowerDirector (~ $90) so far, but I have a feeling I will be outgrowing it sooner than later (especially, when I think of doing, say chroma keying (the green-screen stuff).

* Of course, you need a camcorder (I have an old, big-ass Sony), and the cable to connect it to your computer (faster if you have a FireWire port).

* The regular lighting in your room is no good. So I borrowed my 8-yr old daughter's pink-shaded table lamp (without her permission, and got yelled at later) and set it up on a chair next to me during the shoot.

* If you have PowerDirector (PD) installed, it automatically prompts to be launched when you plug your camcorder in. Just put the camcorder in "Play" (VTR) mode, and hit the red "Record" button in PD, and it starts recording right away. Once you finish recording, hit "Stop", save the file, edit it (very intuitive interface) to add sound effects, transitions, trimming out bad takes, etc

* PD v5 has a cool new "Create File for YouTube" feature - where it will create a slightly low-res Windows media file (.wmv) that has a smaller file size compared to MPEG's (given YouTube's 100MB limit), and will even upload it directly to YouTube (provided you've logged in previously, of course)

* Create a new YouTube account with the same name as your channel (because you can't change the login later).

* Create and upload the video directly from PD.

* Wait for like at least 2-3 hours before you can see it live (used to be live within just 10 minutes as recently as 6 months ago!)

* Any changes you make to your channel (description, change to template, colors, etc) will take anywhere from 10 minutes to a few hours to take effect.

* Wait for it to go live, spam your friends and family, and publish the video on your site or blog

The Official England Youtube Channel - England 2 - 1 Japan : Official Highlights of England's final 2010 30/05/10

Official highlights of England's 2 - 1 win over Japan in Austria on 30th May 2010. The final warm up friendly before the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa. Subscribe to the Official England channel on YouTube for the latest and best England content.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNoxeA2Yq50&hl=en

Customize YouTube Channel - Professional Custom YouTube Background

To customize YouTube channel means to graphically change the default background. They allow users to go into their channel to upload a custom YouTube background by clicking on My Channel -- Themes & Colors -- Show Advanced Options -- Background Image -- Browse.

You can then take a graphic file that has been saved on your computer and upload it to YouTube. Make sure that the file is no bigger than 256K -- and is in the.jpeg or.gif file extension.

The YouTube layout dimensions are dependent upon your screen resolution. However, you should start out with 1250 by 1250 pixels and decrease in increments of 25 pixels. Save file and then upload it. See how your YouTube channel looks. Repeat steps until you find a satisfactory fit.

Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Fireworks are the two different graphics programs that can be used to build the YouTube background. If you are new to these programs, there is a little bit of a learning curve, however there are video tutorials on the internet that can teach you how to use these programs. Just do a search in Google and you will find a multitude of tutorials.

You can also hire people that specialize in building custom YouTube backgrounds. They can be found on elance, e-guru, warrior forum, etc.

Having a custom YouTube channel is significant if you want to stand out in the social media arena. Whether your involved with internet marketing or just trying to make friends, a unique graphic design on your channel will add an element of attractiveness.

Just one little piece of advice if you decide to go the route of hiring someone instead of building a custom YouTube page yourself. Make sure you are not limiting your ideas or beliefs to what can be done. Whatever you want on your YouTube background is what you should ask for. Don't be afraid to be very detailed and specific in your design. If they are not able to meet your needs, then find another graphic designer. There are many professional graphic designers that have built hundreds of YouTube backgrounds and are happy to find more work.

How to Start Your Own YouTube Channel

So you've decided to create videos and post them on YouTube have you? And you've heard about this here thing called a channel. It looks neat with lots of cool tools to help you produce, and sell your products.

But how do you get started?

Well first of all you start by thinking about it. Yup, the good ol' prestart. Why do you want a channel? What are you going to use it for? Do you need one channel or one for each interest? Answer these and any other questions you can think up before you start creating your channel. It's always easier to determine your strategy first than to clean up the mess when you decide after you've created a mess load of videos.

Well the first thing you need after you've made up your mind is to find your way over to YouTube.com. So fire up Firefox or Internet Explorer or Google Chrome or my favorite Lynx. Actually forget Lynx, it's text only and it's hard to watch videos in text mode, In short use your favorite webhost (I was being silly suggesting Lynx) and surf your way over to YouTube.

Once you get there you're going to need a sign in aka an account. So over in the upper right hand corner you'll see a menu item for Create Account and Sign In. Since you're creating an account take the obvious alternative and hit the back button. No, don't be silly hit the Create Account item. Not with your fist, put the cursor on it and click your mouse button. And here I thought I was getting silly!

Okay, now YouTube and Google don't get along well together. (Corporate politics don't you know). So if you're signed on to a Google account (such as groups or gmail), you're about to be signed off. If not then you'll go straight to the new account screen. See how it's asking for a username and a bunch of other stuff? Fill those fields in. I would suggest that you let others find your channel with or without an email address actually.

The bad news is that you might not be able to get your username. The good news is that if it is taken YouTube will give you a number of alternative suggestions.

You now have a choice to make. Add YouTube to your Google account or create a new Google account.

Cool, you now have your very own YouTube account. Lucky you!

Now all you need is a channel. Which was the purpose of this escapade as you will remember.

Guess what? You already have one. It was automatically created when you created your YouTube account. Cool or what?

All you really need to do now then is to customize your channel page (and post some videos). So select the Customize Channel link or go over to your username, click on that and select My Channel. You'll now find yourself on the channel customization page. Just go into the fist section and make whatever changes you wish.

Now all you have to do is upload some videos and you are set to go. So put the cursor back on top your name and hit the left button. Now select My Videos and hit the click button once again.

You are now on the videos page. Click on the New button and then select Video Upload. Go ahead and fill in the form and press enter.

Guess what, you've started your very own YouTube channel. Now what are you going to do with it?

YouTube Marketing - 3 Best Benefits of Using YouTube to Market Your Business

YouTube has gone popular overnight. Once the favorite haunt of amateur home video makers - it is now the breeding ground for marketing strategies. And why not? Why, even e-celebrities (or those who became virtual world celebs after putting their videos on YouTube) have launched their careers on YouTube. So, why not use it as your very own marketing tool?

Here are some reasons why you should think about exploring the possibilities of YouTube marketing:

1. Rising through the ranks.

PageRank. Now that Google owns the rights for YouTube, it follows that YouTube will be given a priority in Google's PageRanking. People using Google search engine will probably see YouTube catapult ahead of the line, which is a great way to maximize your site's visibility in the virtual world.

2. Spare your corporate site the bandwidth drain that comes with streaming video.

For companies, generating exposure or new business via YouTube may be low in priority. However, some business are finding it as a great place to keep and park video clips using bandwidth of YouTube with just a simple link from their corporate site.

3. Create your own customer and channel base.

Every time you post a video in your account, YouTube creates a profile channel. Avid viewers can be part of that channel and subscribe to it. Businesses can then send newsletters via e-mails to those subscribers.

Embrace technology and let it help you with your business. It has work for a lot of people, so, you may as well jump in the bandwagon and use YouTube marketing. And if it doesn't work - no worries, it's free.