What is YouTube?  Many would answer that question as a website of uploaded user videos including fabulous plays and bloopers in the sporting world.  Others visit YouTube to witness animals and children’s cutest moments and catch outrageous television moments missed the first time around.

But YouTube is more than that.  With over 1 billion hits per day, YouTube is a free resource for businesses to market its products and services.  Much like other forms of social media, a key component of YouTube success is sharing valuable content to viewers.  Businesses use YouTube to not only market materials, but also to provide product and service explanations, expert analyses, and customer reviews and testimonials.

For example, Company A recently presented its business plan and general marketing strategy to a potential client.  More importantly, Company A recorded this meeting for the sole purpose of uploading this plan to the Internet hoping to reach other interested parties looking for the same products and services (minus any specific client data included in the presentation, of course).

Users begin by creating an account.  Once the YouTube account is created, a user can then establish and customize a home page or YouTube Channel where he uploads video content, similar to a Facebook page.  Viewers can also subscribe to this YouTube Channel to receive notifications of recently uploaded materials and information, similar to the Facebook “like” button.

Okay, so the YouTube account and channel is set up….

What kind of files can we upload?  YouTube allows, but is not limited to, uploads via Windows Media Video, Cell Phone, Mac, and Adobe Flash files.

Are there any helpful tips to uploading a video to maximize user interest?  YouTube recommends an upload title to be as simple as possible with use of popular keywords and tags that relate to the video.  Remember to also market the YouTube video via other social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Looking to take marketing to another level?  YouTube also offers three advertising and promotion opportunities to its accounts for a fee: Google Content Network managed through Google Adwords, Promoted Videos (cost-per-view basis), and Advertising Campaigns (purchased through a third-party ad company).

So, how can a writer benefit from using YouTube?

Everyone is familiar with movie trailers – production companies edit compilations of its films to promote an upcoming release.  Many of these videos are released to television, radio, and some are even found on YouTube.

Writers can market their upcoming e-books converted by Digital Content Center by producing a short video trailer.  We mention short because YouTube limits the length of all video uploads to fifteen minutes.

For example, a potential reader walks into a book store and picks up a published book to read the blurb on the inside or back cover.  Often times, this blurb makes or breaks the sale.

Now imagine that the author decides to self-publish and his product is only available online in electronic formats (Kindle, Nook, and i-Pad) courtesy of DCC.  Sure, a written summary is important; but what if the author produces an e-book trailer and uploads this video to the Internet via YouTube?

Instead of asking a reader to visualize the story on his own, the writer did it for him!  Sounds like a great way to increase e-book sales, doesn’t it?