May 25, 2005, Beth's Flickr Stream
That photo was an update of old visual joke. Ten years ago, I had a similar sign that said "I'll HTML for food." I was reminded of this when Steve Garfield sent me a link to the Will Video for Food Blog's post "How to Promote Your Videos on YouTube." Some really good tips here, but these three particularly resonated:
- Remember It’s a Social Network. The most-viewed creators often got popularized by interacting with other frequently-watched YouTubers. Zipster08 got his start mocking Renetto. Renetto got famous by addressing other YouTubers. So you’ve got to socialize on YouTube. It’s not just a video-sharing site, it’s a commune.
- Keep it Short. This is an ADHD generation. This is so, so, so important. I’ve violated my own rule lately, but I can’t stress enough that people don’t want more than 3 minutes. And if you can do it in 30-60 seconds you’ll get twice the views. I often won’t even start a video that’s more than 5 minutes. It’s just not yet a long-form platform. Maybe AppleTV will allow us to consume longer videos, but short is good.
- Collaborate with YouTubers. Find other YouTubers in your area and participate in a video together. You’ll pick up some of their subscribers and vice versa. Everyone wins.
I think this advice holds true for other social networking sites as well.
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