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Creating an Online Video Presence
Just what types of videos can your business produce for YouTube? It all depends on the type of business you have and on the way you want to use the Web.
First, look at any existing videos you might have produced for use in your business. Perhaps you’ve taped a company meeting or seminar, or you have a PowerPoint presentation that’s been converted to video. Or maybe you’re a realtor who has recorded video house tours, or a motivational speaker who has a speech or two on tape. Any of those videos could make a good starting point for moving your business to YouTube.
Take the realtor example. Today, most realtors take digital photographs of the houses they list, and then potential buyers view those photos on the realtor’s website. But there’s nothing stopping you from using a camcorder to produce a video tour of the house, editing that tour into a short video, and then posting that video on YouTube. You can then embed the YouTube video on your website, so that potential buyers can view the video. It’s a great enhancement to a realtor’s selling services, and it doesn’t cost you a dime (beyond the cost of shooting the video, of course).
Here's another example for you. If your business is a leader in its category, or if you yourself are an industry expert, you can establish and exploit that expertise via a series of YouTube videos. All it takes is a video camera or webcam pointed at you behind a desk; you then spend three or four minutes talking about a particular topic or issue of interest. Think of it as a professional video blog; if you truly know what you’re talking about, it will help to establish your professional credentials and burnish your company’s image.
For that matter, there are lots of different types of videos that can help enhance your company’s image. There may be value, for example, in putting a video online of your company’s most recent sales conference—or at least the part that introduces upcoming new products. Or maybe your company has hosted a seminar or conference that is of interest to others outside your company. These videos can be edited for length and uploaded to YouTube, where any interested party can view them.
That said, there’s one type of video that you don’t want to upload to video. YouTube is not the place to recycle your company’s commercials. Users will not go out of their way to view something online that they try to avoid in the real world. Unless you have a really clever, Superbowl-worthy commercial that people want to view again and again, keep your ads to yourself—and don’t upload them to YouTube.