Are your videos trapped inside a DVD, or worse, collecting dust on a VHS or DVCam tape somewhere? Think about it. You or your agency probably put together videos in the past and sent out copies via VHS tapes or DVD’s. Maybe you were even more progressive and had it encoded and posted on your website. But what if people lost the DVD or didn’t take the time to navigate to your website to see it? Your one shot at getting “eyes” on that carefully crafted production just fell flat… or worse, they watched it and never shared it with anyone else.
Millions Watch Videos on YouTube
Check this out. According to a newly-published report, U.S. Internet users viewed 16.8 billion online videos during April of this year, representing an increase of 16 percent versus March. A significant increase in video viewing at Google video sharing site YouTube.com during April contributed to the month’s sizeable gains according to comScore Video Metrix service. Google Sites reached an all-time high of 107.9 million video viewers during the month! And, as far as I can tell, nobody is paying to put their videos on YouTube.
So here’s an idea: How about taking those dusty old movies and uploading them to YouTube? It’s free, remember? You can rekindle a message or theme and reach a much wider audience with your message, even if it’s a little dated. If nothing else, it’s social proof that you’ve been doing great work and people can still learn from what you’ve done. For example, I produced a documentary on gang violence a few years back (see below) and we sent copies out only on VHS (yes, we were in the stone age). So, just for the heck of it, I uploaded it to YouTube way back when and it’s still getting watched today. It has longevity. In fact, it has over 125,000 views to date! Think about how much it would cost to air this video on television and reach 125,000 people. I’ve access those viewers for free and with no effort. Here’s the video for example:
Free Places to Upload Your Video that Everyone Can Watch
- YouTube – (Create a YouTube Account here) Founded in February 2005, YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience.
- Vimeo – Vimeo is the perfect home for you to upload, store and share all the video you create.
- Revver – Support the free and unlimited sharing of media. You can make money with this – pairs videos with targeted ads.
- Blip.tv – This free video hosting service is where I host my videos. It takes care of all the problems a videoblogger, podcaster or Internet TV producer tends to run into. They take care of the servers, the software, the workflow, the advertising and the distribution. All you have to do is focus on creativity.
Other notable findings from the newly-published report:
- 78.6 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
- The average online video viewer watched 385 minutes of video, or 6.4 hours.
- 107.1 million viewers watched 6.8 billion videos on YouTube.com (63.5 videos per viewer).
- 49 million viewers watched 387 million videos on MySpace.com (7.9 videos per viewer).
- The duration of the average online video was 3.5 minutes.
So What Do You Think? Work for You?
Do you think this is a good idea for you and your organization? Please comment below and let me know if you’ve uploaded videos to one of these free video sharing sites and found it useful. What am I missing?
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