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1-5: The Subscribe button lets viewers become subscribers with a single click.

       Actively upload videos. It’s difficult to imagine a television station maintaining viewers if it doesn’t add new programs. Even if it were all Seinfeld all the time, chances are good that viewers would eventually drift off to something else. Well, the same concept applies for your YouTube channel. If you don’t upload new video content, you’ll lose the interest of your subscriber base. The takeaway here? Always provide new content.

       Pay close attention to tagging. When you tag a video, you categorize it after uploading it to YouTube. When a video is properly identified, it increases the possibility of someone else finding it, and that extends to future subscribers.

      Establishing your brand

      Whether it’s a consumer or a viewer, a brand makes your product or service immediately identifiable. Imagine that the Coca-Cola logo looked different every time you saw it, or maybe the apple on your PowerBook wasn’t the same apple you saw embossed on your iPhone. This lack of consistency could shatter your confidence in the product; you may start wondering whether what you had was a cheap knock-off of the real thing rather than the genuine article.

Branding is designed to restore confidence in the product — that familiar logo makes you relax, knowing that you’re sure to get the real thing. When it comes to your YouTube channel, branding becomes the identifiable element that lets viewers know who you are and what you’re all about, thus creating a similar feeling of confidence. Just like consumers flock to brands they identify with, your audience will do the same with your brand.

      Branding takes on many forms on YouTube:

       Intro clip: Before each video runs on your channel, you can insert a 3-second clip that acts as a label for your content. The torch-carrying lady wrapped in a flag for Columbia Pictures and the roaring MGM lion are good examples of a branding element. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to come up with an intro of your own that is equally compelling.

       Channel header: This element is the banner on top of your main page, and at first it’s as empty as a blank page. (See Figure 1-6.) You’ll definitely want to click that Add Channel Art button to add a compelling picture or another graphic along with the name of your channel. The channel header can also include your contact info and specify how often you intend to upload new videos.FIGURE 1-6: An empty header, waiting to be filled with an image that represents your content.

       Logo: Companies spend millions on branding when they have to come up with a new logo, because they have to track down and replace every single instance of the old logo. We’re guessing that’s not your problem — you just have to come up with your own logo, perhaps using a simple image and your name. If you feel graphically challenged, you can find places on the web that can create one for you inexpensively. Or just have an artistic friend design a logo for you.

       Playlists: If you have enough videos on your channel, you can create a running order of them. This playlist can provide an overview of your content or a specific subtopic of your videos. You can name every playlist, and even rearrange them.

       Trailer: In a YouTube context, a trailer is a video that can automatically play whenever visitors come to your channel. You can use the video most representative of your content as a kind of advertisement for your offerings, or you can make a short video that shows viewers what your channel is all about and how they can benefit from watching your videos.

Managing Channels for Fun and/or Profit

      Everybody has a reason for making a video, and YouTube doesn’t discriminate on why you do it. Whether you were influenced a little too much by the silly, everyday situations depicted on television a series like America’s Funniest Home Videos or you want to show off your post-film-school prowess or you’re looking to educate the masses with a series of how-to videos, there’s a place for you on YouTube — and (you hope!) an audience that’s willing to follow your exploits.

      In addition to the pleasure that comes from a job well done, there’s (potentially) a business side to running a YouTube channel. If you post videos that draw a lot of views, it’s worth your time to monetize your channel — generate some income from ad revenue, in other words. But that’s not the only business purpose YouTube channels can help with: They can serve as a great showcase for your particular skills or services or act as a delivery system for product descriptions, tutorials, and testimonials associated with whatever your business is selling.

      Creating content

      Whether you grab a 10-second video of a gathering of friends, have something meaningful to say on your video blog, or plan a highly structured production with sets and actors, you’re creating content.

Almost every topic under the sun is represented on YouTube. That diversity in topics is matched by an equally broad range of production levels. Some videos are quite sophisticated, displaying amazing production values, but many are fairly average. And a great deal are just poorly done and end up getting shown in film classes as examples of what not to do.

      Better production values increase your ability to grab viewers’ attention — maybe enough for them to watch the entire video and maybe enough for them to even consider watching whatever else you have to offer. The holy grail, of course, is having them feel so enthusiastic about what they see that they then share it with others.

      But great video quality doesn’t happen accidentally; rather, it’s done consciously, from conception to upload. Though the topic is more thoroughly represented throughout this book, here are some key suggestions to always keep in mind:

       Plan before you film. Great videos begin in preproduction. That means having an idea of the shooting location and working with some sort of script (or at least a storyboard of the kind of shots you want for the video). Great planning leads to great production.

       Know your audience. When you’re just getting started, you try to make solid videos with good descriptions and hope that your audience finds you. After you have attracted a following, it’s still important to understand who they are and whether your content is right for them. For example, if you start a channel that talks about SAT and college prep, you should use language that’s consistent with a high-school-age demographic. Don’t overlook the importance of being highly aware of your potential audience.

       Keep viewers entertained. Regardless of the subject matter, it’s important for viewers to enjoy the experience so that you hold their attention. Remember that hooking a viewer’s attention starts with the first five seconds of the video. (Why? Because viewers may leave before the good stuff starts!)

       Let them learn something. People generally click on a video description link in search of information. If they find it quickly and they were entertained, chances are good that they will love you and click through to products or services mentioned in the video.

      Building an audience

      After you create great content, you have to find people to watch it. After all, isn’t that the entire purpose of sharing your video with the world? Whether it starts with the ten people who just happen to run across your student film or a million people viewing your talking puppy video, building your audience is essential.

YouTube is no different from other media when it comes to emphasizing the importance of building an audience. For example, you may have the catchiest song of all time, but if no one has ever heard it or even knows it exists, then that song cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a success. The same is true for your videos — you need to work at getting as many people as possible to watch them.

      Successfully building your audience depends on understanding their needs and

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