Josh Rimer dot Com
How I'm getting famous and how you can too!

YouTube recently had some of the biggest changes to it’s website since it launched.  Many users were up in arms because, well, let’s face it – most of us don’t like change. I actually like most of the new features and designs myself, and really, I’ve just accepted the fact that websites like YouTube need to progress and move forward if they’re going to continue to survive and be on top of a very competitive marketplace.

From time to time YouTube also has random “experiments” that they bring in (and sometimes in turn phase out not long after) for users to try out – the latest one being YouTube Slam, a place where YouTubers can vote for the videos they like best, in a “this or that” style. Videos are pitted against each other for a short period during which you pick your favorite (with four categories to choose from including cute, music, comedy, and bizarre), earning the videos points in the process. The winning videos get featured on the “leaderboard” which is a fantastic way for up and coming YouTubers to get a lot more exposure.

YouTube Slam seems pretty cool, but because it’s still at an early stage, some of its features have raised questions like:

1. How to take part in YouTube Slam

2. How video entries are chosen

3. What do we do with all those points earned?

It’s too early to tell whether YouTube Slam’s going to become a more prominent service on the site or just a flash in the pan, but I’m all for experimenting with features that help smaller YouTubers get more exposure.

What do you think about YouTube Slam?

So, it turns out the rumors were true. Back in March I wrote a blog post about YouTube paying out millions to celebrities in order to get them to create their own channels on the site.  It’s now been confirmed that an incredible $100 million has been spread out over a number of high (and not so high) profile Hollywood personalities so they can create their own high quality content on YouTube.

YouTube is of course doing this to elevate the quality of content available on the website.  It’s no secret that much of the world still think of amateur home videos such as cute kittens, laughing babies, and webcam lip-syncing when they think of YouTube originals.  Having people like Madonna, Jay-Z, and Tony Hawk producing funded content is definitely a step in a more advertiser friendly direction.

According to YouTube’s blog, the first of these new original channels will appear on their website starting very shortly and the rest will continue to come out over the next few months.  It’ll be interesting to see how they do, but I really can’t see it not working out for the most part.  These people already come with a built-in audience. It’s not like the money is being put into new up-and-comers who will hopefully have an idea that sticks.  People like Ashton Kutcher and Shaquille O’Neal (also on the list of recipients) could make videos of themselves sneezing and still get an incredible amount of views and advertisers.

As for my original concern about the possibility of them making it harder for the rest of us non-celebs to get seen on YouTube, I guess that’s still to be determined, but at this point I’m happy to support whatever will bring more viewers onto the platform. It does feel like a big part of YouTube is dying considering the roots of the website and how it used to be just people like you and me on it, but it’s now the second largest search engine and a real force on the internet, so we certainly can’t expect it to stay how it was back in the day when it was just a fun little website run by a couple guys from Paypal… now can we?

Everybody knows that Hollywood producers make millions, but how can you make money with YouTube videos and use them as a launchpad for entering the film industry?

After years of experience making online videos, I have some great techniques for making money online with your YouTube videos.

Using YouTube videos to generate affiliate revenue

Although Google has monopolized YouTube video link overlay ads, you can still add text boxes containing ads to your own YouTube videos. Use these text boxes to direct users to the video’s description.

Though user-created text box overlays can’t contain links, you can put links in your video’s description. Create videos and put affiliate links in your videos’ descriptions and you’ll get a cut of each click, sale, or lead you generate. If you have a video about, say, poker, you can have an affiliate link to an online poker site and get paid for each person who signs up for the online poker site.

Placing ads directly into your YouTube videos

One drawback for businesses about using Google’s YouTube text ads is that they are easy to close out and they don’t draw viewers’ attention very well. The only way for a company to get a creative ad YouTube via Google’s official advertising solution is to pay for a preroll ad (the ads that appear before a video) and those are pretty expensive.

That’s why some companies will pay you to put ads in your YouTube videos if your YouTube channel has a lot of viewers in a targetable audience. Unlike Google’s ads, these ads will stay in your video forever since they’re part of the same video file. The ads can either be banners that run on top of the screen (Google’s text ads block out the bottom) or video commercials at the beginning of your video.

Getting paid through crowdsourced video websites

You can get paid to make web ads, webcasts, and TV commercials from a crowdsourced video website. Essentially, a company requests a video on a crowdsourced video website, you submit a video, and get paid if the company uses it. The rates vary but Playkast pays $50. It’s that simple.

The crowdsourced model is great for new film makers because you can do it without having any professional connections. It’s a great opportunity to get paid to build your portfolio, make connections, and earn money making videos online.

Some of these tips work for almost everyone but others only work situationally. You’re not likely to get advertisers to buy banner ads in your videos if your channel has a wide audience, like women aged 14 to 65. Conversely, anyone can go onto Playkast and get paid to make videos online.

Guest post by Murray Newlands who does blogger relations for Playkast

YouTube has recently launched the YouTube Copyright School, a kind of detention class where violators of YouTube’s copyright rules are sent. The school essentially dumbs down copyright rules as played out by Happy Tree Friends (Mondo Media) in four-minute videos, and then requires you to answer a multiple-choice type of test reviewing the lessons taught in the video. Supposedly if you have a copyright violation on your account you can get it removed by passing the test.

I took it because I got a copyright violation in 2008 when my brother & I made a parody of So You Think You Can Dance and I used their logo and opening music in it.  The strike against my account didn’t do much other than restrict me from being able to have unlisted videos (which I don’t really understand the reasoning behind).  It may have also kept me from being one of the first to try out new features like YouTube Live (which I actually still don’t have the ability to do yet, so I continue on BlogTV on Wednesday evenings).  YouTube has a three strikes and your out rule, so I had to be pretty careful about what else I uploaded after that.

To avoid this situation I suggest you simply stick to the copyright rules and regulations on YouTube and check with the guidelines for users and content creators whenever you’re unsure about uploading a video where you use anything you haven’t created yourself. Of course, there are some situations that fall under Fair Use, so it’s often up to your own judgement when you’re making a parody if you remake the music/logo/etc (ie. decide yourself or consult a lawyer).

If you do upload something you aren’t supposed to you risk getting flagged by the owner of that content (ie. music, video, photo, etc). A web form is now accessible for all users to fill up whenever they find out that someone used their work (or a part of their work) without permission and send that to YouTube.  Plus there’s the Content ID system which can automatically detect things like music and video footage almost as soon as it goes up. If caught, you’ll receive a notification about it, and have the option to counter the complaint, which they say you better be sure about before you do. If proven wrong and  you keep doing it, then your account will likely be suspended or shut down. And of course even worse than that, you could be sued by the content owner.

So, I took YouTube’s test for copyright and got 100%.  Yay me!  Unfortunately, my copyright strike remained.  A couple weeks passed and nothing changed, but I went to a YouTube Partners meetup in Seattle shortly afterwards and one of the YouTube staff told me to email Partner support and ask to contact the company who had filed the violation.  I did that, and after some back and forth between them, myself, and YouTube, the strike was removed!  I’m now 100% strike free.  Ahh, feels good to be cleansed.

According to YouTube, the copyright school was their way of “softening” YouTube’s three-strike’s rule. I think the YouTube school could be a good way to increase awareness among YouTubers and to correct them about things they may actually think they’re doing right when they’re not.  And at least it’s good to know that simply emailing an apology and request for removal can work too!

When it was first suggested to me to do a parody of Rebecca Black’s music video for Friday, I thought, na – it’s already been up for a few days, so it’s going to be old news by the time I get my version done.  Well, fast forward to more than a couple months later and it’s still one of the most viral videos out there. Incredible.

In case you’ve somehow escaped it, Rebecca Black’s “Friday” has almost 150 million views, and is a worldwide phenomenon for how bad of a song, singer, and music video it is.  There are almost 3 million dislikes (thumbs down) on the video compared to only 400,000 likes (thumbs up). Comments have been disabled, presumably because they were overwhelmingly negative and not the type of thing a young, teenage girl should read being written about herself.

What’s good news for Rebecca and bad news for her haters is that she is here to stay, according to the YouTube Trends blog. YouTube believes the viral video star will be sticking around and will be seen on trends lists and other kinds of top ten lists everywhere in the future. Here’s why:

1. Friday is a music video. Music videos are watched more than other kinds of viral videos because they have more chances of being watched by a viewer over and over again. Ever find yourself singing or humming a song after seen its music video on YouTube, and maybe rewatched it a few more times later on? YouTube believes that this is exactly the kind of influence Rebecca’s song has on us.  It’s the kind of song that people love to hate.  Like your favorite cheesy movie, it’s often worth watching more than once.

2. It’s a polished production that’s being shared around to laugh at. “It’s more ripe for parody” as YouTube says and that’s proven to definitely be true. In one week alone, there were over 1,000 parodies made, and those videos come from all over the globe. A music video is typically easier to parody than your average YouTube video.

Another interesting thing to note about her video, is that YouTube’s rating system clearly is more focused on how many ratings you get, as opposed to the positivity score.  Rebecca Black’s video is the top result in YouTube search for the word Friday, out of over half a million videos, despite having so many dislikes than likes on it.  I’ve noticed this on my videos too – my Rihanna parody is the first result in YouTube search for the words Only Gay, out of over 100,000 videos, and yet it has over 500 dislikes.  Granted, there are three times as many likes on it, but at first I was worried about the effect all those dislikes would have – which turns out to be a positive one regardless, as long as people are interacting with the video.

One of the best ways I keep my readers/viewers updated is through my email list. There are many companies who offer the service, but I chose one called Aweber because they have a lot of great options available with their service and give a commission if other people also sign up for the service through you.  Unfortunately, I’ve referred three people to them (possibly more), and each time I’ve had problems getting my commission.  Every time I called about it I was told by their customer service department that it was because those people used my affiliate link without the www in front of it.  Somehow that supposedly affected the cookies so that they couldn’t track where the sign-ups were coming from.  In all three cases I was told that I just had to get the username and invoice number for the person I referred, and I’d be credited.  I did get the credit for two of the people, but not for one.  That third person signed up for a full year and I contacted Aweber a month later, when I noticed that my commission hadn’t been recorded.

Turns out, somehow in this case, I’m not able to be credited retroactively.  They say that a month is too much time, and there’s no way they can credit my account or issue me a commission.  Excuse me?  How on earth is that possibly acceptable?  The person who signed up says he did it through my link.  I gave all the info they requested.  Any reputable business can issue a refund, a credit, or a comission – but not this one.  Not to mention that in all 3 instances I had to follow up to find out why my commission didn’t go through in the first place – how many other people signed up with my affiliate link that I don’t know about?

The final person that I spoke to was the customer service manager, who told me that in fact it didn’t matter if the www was there or not.  He said that with or without the www it records the cookies the same.  I couldn’t believe it – I told him how at least three other people in customer service told me that was the reason why my commissions didn’t go through in the first place, and he told me that they were wrong, but regardless, they would not give me a credit of any kind for the payment that had been made in this case.

I’m really flabbergasted at the treatment I got from Aweber.  Considering I’m paying $29 a month to them, and the commission we’re talking about here is only $58, you’d think they might want to make their recurring customer (and active affiliate) happy.  But nope – they refuse to budge even though both I and the person who signed up through my link have told them that’s the case, and even though I’ve never had a commission given to me for an account that I didn’t have to follow up on myself because it didn’t get recorded on their end, and even though I was able to be credited for the other two.

So I highly recommend you use an alternative to Aweber because any company that is shady enough to be like this, isn’t one that you should be investing your own money in, or referring others too.  The main problem is that once you’ve set up your email list, you’re kind of stuck with them – and they know that.  I can go to another service, but I’ve heard from others who’ve tried switching that most of their list doesn’t actually bother to switch over with them (I can’t move over people to a new email list myself – they have to re-sign up themselves and click on the confirmation link).  So if you’re just starting out with building an email list, choose wisely – because once you’ve got one, you’ll have to put up with their rules and customer service whether you like it or not.

When it comes to internet marketing, 2011 might be the year that video starts overtaking text as the preferred information medium. It’s not just college kids with iPhones and bored moms watching YouTube videos anymore. According to the Forbes Insight article ìVideo in the C-Suite: Executives Embrace the Non-Text Webî, even C-level executives are starting to trend away from text and towards online video. Among the study’s findings:

• Business people are trending toward watching video on a page before they read text
• 43% of executives under the age of 40 have called a vendor after watching the vendor’s own online video
• 43% of executives under 40 have called a vendor after seeing a video ad for the vendor
• 46% of executives under 40 have called a vendor after seeing a YouTube video ad for the vendor

Keep in mind that these figures are for 2010. In 2011 these figures will likely increase.

Still, like all content on the web, video is only valuable to a business or marketer if the targeted audience can actually find the video. Today, many viewers have access to wireless internet, which means your videos have a much wider viewer base to target. Given that so many business owners still struggle with basic search engine optimization techniques, it’s no wonder that they encounter frustration when it comes to YouTube SEO. For the uninitiated, therefore, we offer up a YouTube SEO guide that should finally help your videos to get some attention.

Content

Let’s begin with content, because content is ultimately what matters the most to people. You don’t have to hire a film crew or be the next Stephen Spielberg to have a successful video; most of your viewers will probably accept some level of amateurism when it comes to YouTube videos. What will not be forgiven, however, is content that does not offer them any value. For example, if you optimize for the search term ìHow to make an ice cream sundaeî, but your video turns out to be a blatantly self-promotional work for your ice cream shop ñ WITHOUT instructions on how to make a sundae ñ viewers will quickly click their back buttons.

Here are some hints when it comes to your YouTube video content:

• Make videos on topics you’re already familiar with. They say that writers should ìwrite what they knowî, and so it is with YouTube videos, too. Choose a topic you can speak fluidly and confidently about, and give viewers something of value that they won’t hear or see elsewhere.
• Keep it short and sweet. There are example of viral videos that are longer than 3 ñ 5 minutes, but the vast majority of videos that are viewed through to the end are short. According to a two-week study performed by Tube Mogul in 2009, less than half of people who start a 1 minute video watch it until the end; less than 25% of people watching a 2 minute video will watch it until the end. There are exceptions to every rule, and certainly there are lengthy videos that went viral, but keeping it short is generally the best practice.
• Break it up into parts. If you feel tempted to make a long video, break it up into segments instead. You can use this strategy with several ends in mind: by breaking it apart, you can end your first video on a ìcliffhangerî to build an audience for subsequent videos; breaking videos into parts increases your search engine result exposure; and making longer videos into shorter pieces decreases load time, which in turn increases the likelihood of videos being watched through to completion.
• Piggyback on the popularity of others by making your video a ìresponseî. Take a hot video in the same category as your video, and make your video a ìresponseî to theirs. This will get your video listed in the hot video’s comments section or to the right of the video, which has the potential of exponentially increasing your video’s exposure. Once you entice viewers to your own video, you can encourage them to subscribe and view your regular, non-response videos.

Optimization

There are three main parts of your YouTube video to optimize for search: the title, the tags, and the description. Here’s a look at all three of these important pieces of optimization.

Title. Use your keyword search phrases for your title first, such as ìmonetize blogsî, followed by precisely what the video will be about, such as ìMonetize Blogs: Four Steps to Monetizing Your Blogî. You can use YouTube’s search suggestions in the search bar to help you discover the right keywords for your video.

Tags. YouTube gives you 120 characters for tags, and you should use every last one. Put in as many search keywords that relate to your video as possible. If you’re trying to attract customers to a brick-and-mortar store, it’s also a good idea to include your city name as one of the tags.

Description. Descriptions can be up to 5,000 characters. Again, use every available character to maximize your search engine exposure. If you’re stumped about what to write, look at your competition’s popular videos, and learn from how they have crafted their description. Use search phrases wherever you can, but don’t get spammy. Neither search engines nor viewers will reward you for spam.

YouTube is Social Media

People forget that YouTube is ultimately a social media site ñ it is a user-driven democracy and rewards popularity and engagement. Therefore, you want to do everything that you can to encourage the following:

• High ratings
• Comments
• Favorites
• Subscribers

Ratings, comments, favorites, inbound links to your video, embedding your video on other sites, and so forth all push your YouTube rankings up. The most important factor to getting this positive attention is making videos that people want to watch. You have to take the time to find out what your audience wants, build videos that appeal to them, and start to create a base of support. All of this takes diligent effort as well as time, so don’t get disappointed if it doesn’t happen right away. Keep cross-pollinating your videos by posting them in your blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, and so forth until they begin to catch hold.

Conclusion

As you work on optimizing your YouTube videos, remember that the same basic SEO rules apply to YouTube videos just as they do to any other web page. You need to optimize for search phrases, build links to your video, and encourage interaction from viewers. Furthermore, just as the most important part of optimizing your website and increasing your conversion rates is providing users with good content, your YouTube success will also hinge upon content. Remember, amateurish is ok; what can’t be compromised is the value your video offers to viewers. To get started building a YouTube audience, therefore, first decide what value you have to offer. Keywords only come later.

This guest post was written by Kevin Lenton.

YouTube apparently gets 10% of its views from mobile users. With the growing number of phone models with online video-streaming capabilities, mobile video consumption has increased at a rapid pace, and seems to really be the next frontier for online video. I often watch YouTube while waiting for someone at a coffee shop or at a bus stop – or even while lying in bed for the convenience of it.

The YouTube Director of Global Content Operations recently said in an interview with Beet.TV that the introduction of Google TV this year is another addition to the list of platforms that propels YouTube’s status higher as the premiere video-sharing and viewing website. Google TV is a smart-TV developed by Google with Sony, Logitech, and Intel and was officially launched October of last year.

Watch more of the interview here:

The great thing about YouTube is that anyone can put up their own YouTube channel whenever they want. As with blogs, and any social media or self-publishing site, YouTube can be customized based on your own taste or preferences, but if you want to reach more audiences, you have to make sure that you give a good first impression by impressing your first-time viewers with the look for your channel.

That being said, here are some tips on how you can jazz up your YouTube channel:

1. Create your own background image.

Customize a background image that resonates with your brand or video themes/content.  Create one using software like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, and upload it to your channel. Save your background image 1500 x 2000 pixels and try to make it under 256 kilobytes. To upload it, go to your channel on YouTube and select “Themes and Colors.” Choose “Advanced Options” then you’ll see where to go from there.

2. Choose the right color scheme.

You don’t want to make your channel look cheap or tacky (unless it’s actually a strategic move), so choose a color scheme that best suits your background image or logo. Choose the best color scheme by again going to “Themes and Colors” to bring up the choices. You can either just click on one, or if you know the color code for a color you like, you can manually type it in at the corresponding fields for the color palette.

3. Organize your playlist.

Feature your best or recommended videos in your home page. While YouTube automatically shows your recently uploaded videos on your channel, it’s a good idea to sort out your featured videos list by showing your best work. You can also do this to show specific videos that you want to be viewed more. To make adjustments to your channel’s Featured clips, go to “My Channel” then click on “Videos and Playlists”. Choose a video under the drop down list for “Featured Videos”. You also have the option to choose a playlist to show under that function.

4. Choose the best thumbnails for your videos.

Make sure that your videos don’t show  your awkward poses or scenes that don’t give a hint on what your videos are about. Make your thumbnails look good by clicking “My Videos” then “Edit.” You have three thumbnails to choose from there, or you may upload your own one if you’re a partner.

5. Make use of channel tags.

Tags are “word IDs” that search engines look for when someone makes a search. It is usually used when publishing blog posts or videos, but your channel can be found by using tags too. To add your channel tags, go to your YouTube “My Channel” page, then hit “Settings” to bring up the field where you can encode your channel tags.

6. Stay busy and buzzing.

Lastly, engage with your audience. Make sure you reply to comments, and start discussions too on your YouTube channel. Always update your bulletin too (found on top of your YouTube channel) to keep your audience posted on what you’re doing, want to do or if you’re going to upload a new video soon. Use the Moderator tool to start polls and ask your audience some questions too to keep the conversations going. For that, go to “My Channels”, click on “Modules”, then tick the “Moderator box” to bring up its options.

You’ve probably chanced upon YouTube’s live streaming events every once in a while now, and now it’s going to be a staple to your regular YouTube programming: YouTube has officially announced that it will be slowly rolling out its live streaming platform to its thousands of users, starting off with some YouTube partners.

A page solely dedicated to the experimental platform at www.youtube.com/live can be accessed by everyone to check out what’s currently streaming or will be streaming in the future and will allow them to mark those events on their calendars. The thing is, only YouTube partners with a good status on YouTube will be allowed to test the platform, allowing them to engage with their audience in real time.  I’m still waiting for my invitation, but in the meantime have (re)started a regular BlogTV live streaming show every Wednesday evening at 6pm PST.

The YouTube Product Marketing Manager  says that the expansion effort is in line with “YouTube’s vision is to become the premiere destination for all video on the web.”  It’s certainly been doing a great job of that since it came onto the scene just over 5 years ago.

Select partners and musicians like Mystery Guitar Man (Joe Penna) and The Gregory Brothers are reported to be streaming soon on the website.   It will be interesting to see how the YouTube live streaming compares to the current contenders like BlogTV and ustream!