While it is simple to join YouTube, there are quite a few important steps one must take before launching. First of all, there is a lot of customization that one can do to make sure a client’s YouTube channel blends well with the client brand identity, mirroring the parent brand.

In addition, structuring the channel, making sure the channel name is appropriate, and also make sure that if there needs to be content that plays for more than 5-minutes there are ways of extending that to hours. There are ways to make revenue as well, through Google AdSense.

Since members of the Abraham Harrison LLC staff has been using YouTube since it was launched in 2005, we understand that unlike television channels, YouTube is not simply a broadcast medium but it a community platform.  Like Twitter and other online communities like MySpace and Facebook, YouTube allows a very deep level of participation, which is what many companies, looking for the next viral hit or just a YouTube land-grab tend to forget.

It is important to not simply create the YouTube channel and make it pretty, it is important to also upload all of the videos required as well, knowing what the most appropriate file type, file size, and file quality it appropriate for each particular application or requirement.  It is also important to consider how the client is willing to share the content and with whom.

Via Abraham Harrison

As of the 8th April Morgan Spurlock’s documentary is showing in full on YouTube. It’s part of a new initiative to put more TV shows and films on the site. Super Size has had about 360,000 views in 10 days.

You can explore the different films here. Trust me – Super Size is one of the best on there. The range is smaller than a the video collection in a village post office. So far. But, like the village post office, they’ve got some totally unexpected things there, like Aguirre Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo & St Elmo’s Fire. Although that last one’s blocked in the UK.

There are also TV shows, but these all seem to be blocked for the UK. We’re not missing much though – Alf, Married With Children, Barney Miller, Jackie Chan cartoons, Sherlock Hound… Nothing to get excited about.

The potential is there though. The quality looks ok, and YouTube certainly has the reach to make this a popular destination for entertainment.

In my opinion, Web 3.0 is “profitable web.” Web 2.0 was “productive web” but web 3.0 is, while maybe composed of many of the same brands and platforms, defined as as having a “legitimate source of revenue.”  I have a feeling that this is being driven hard by the collapse of the economy.  Well, it looks like YouTube might well be joining the rare club of online services that can actually offer shareholder value: Google Slowly Turning YouTube Into A Moneymaker:

There are signs this week that Google is slowly turning YouTube into a legitimate source of revenue, but there are also questions whether that’s happening quickly enough and if the revenue will ever become a profit.

(Via Stephen Falk via Mitch Magee)

UPDATE: I shared this post with them and they wished me well on my trip to Aspen! They live out in the corn fields and, aside from someone’s basement at someone’s house, they practice here at Starbucks!  I am having quite a lot of fun here in Topeka, Kansas!  I love the way these kids roll!

I just caught this commercial on TV and laughed by ass off when a ram, our of nowhere, butted some gum-chewing guy on a cell phone in the belly.

I am now beginning to rock my Nokia N95 8GB with some pretty cool stuff, all recommended from my friends online and also in person at BlogPotomac, in the case of QIK.

QIK – An amazing little app that is free and I have downloaded and installed that allows me to stream live video from my phone directly to my QIK profile.  What is even cooler is that QIK is tied into cross-posting to other spaces, such as directly to my YouTube profile as well, so all I have to do is do the recording and it goes to both places.  When I am recording, it is actually streamed live directly to either my profile page or to an embed, see below:

I am going to get that sorted today, hopefully. However, if you do have EDGE, you can still use it, but it won’t be live so much as just recorded and then uploaded over time to your profiles.I give QIK.com full marks — it is the sort of thing that allows me to gloat when I am around those insufferable iPhone users.

Walk with me to Berlin Hauptbahnhof to grab a couple things at the shops:

• 43Things Profile
• del.icio.us Profile
• Digg Profile
• Facebook Profile
• Friendster Profile
• Flugpo Profile
• Dodgeball Profile
• Flickr Profile
• LinkedIn Profile
• Jaiku Profile
• MySpace Profile
• YouTube Profile
• Vox Profile
• Twitter Profile
• Technorati Profile
• StumbleUpon Profile
• Reddit Profile
• Pownce Profile
• Orkut Profile
• AIM: ChrisPhur
• MSN: christopherabraham@hotmail.com
• Y!: chrisabraham
• GTalk: cabraham@gmail.com
• Skype: chrisabraham
• Chris Abraham
• Marketing Conversation

If you want to explore the nature of free multi-person video conferencing from a company that has a truly sick sense of humor then you should really and truly download and install ooVoo right now and give it a bit of a go, with or without stage makeup.

Okay, I must admit that they’re all pretty profane and wonderful… here’s a lovely comedy take on grotesque suicide:

When it comes to sexing up a product, Xyience does a fantastic job promoting their Xyience Xenergy line of energy drink products using … wait for it … sex and sexiness. Monica and Candi are themselves flavors: brunette and blonde. Shameless! I can respect Shamelessness.

Here they all are for your titillation and enjoyment:

Xyience Xenergy Commercial with Sexy Monica

Xyience Xenergy Girl Monica Starts a Motorcycle with Sex

Xyience Citrus Clear Commercial with Candi

Oh, and don’t forget Extreme Sports — motor racing!

Xyience Extreme Science

Gorgeous Marilyn Monroe Abbegirl:

Cat Woman Abbegirl

Win a Date with Abbegirl Results

Abbegirl with her Acoustic Guitar

A Bizarre Abbygirl with Bert and Ernie

Abbe Loves Her Girlfriend

Super-Goofy Midnight Snack for Abbegirl

Here’s a drunk, blonde, Abbegirl

This is where Shmuly Tennenhaus, YouTube celebrity and G-d, just walks right into the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in order to offer them breaking news exclusive: Shmuly Tennenhaus (oneparkave on YouTube) has broken 100 video clips! See as Shmuly saunters in, visits a winking, cheeky, Joe-football, Casey, and then walks over to cute little Monica Guzman, taps her on the shoulder, spooks her, and then tells her her mom is totally hot. It is priceless — social engineering, punking, playing, and making fun of them to their faces. By the way, Shmuly is no fool, this is all an act. So amazing. Five minutes in, her gets escorted out by an old codger, Don Smith, with a beard. Very amusing indeed!

YouTube is UGC Community as much as video entertainment.

Knows the user, keeps a history, builds a profile. Will become part of the Google Universe.

Featured Content features top, subscribed, and favorite videos

Revenue: Google Ads
Text and banner.
Est. $5-$10 mio/month

Leverages Flash – Installed in 90% of browsers

It’s about community, too. Comments, conversations, recommendations, invitations…

YouTube‘s Revenue Model
- Advertising is the largest source of revenue
- Google AdWords: contextual ads
- Ad placement: Advertising.com, Tacoda
- Right to videos are reserved by YouTube in Terms of Service (TOS)

YouTube has distribution and partnering deals
- Universal Music Group: distribution deal
- CBS
- Sony BMG
- BSkyB (39 percent owned by News Corp.)
- Warner Music (Google)
- NBC Universal
- National Hockey League (NHL)

YouTube is Making Conversations Visual

Most people perceive YouTube as Television
- If content is King on YouTube then…
- Conversation is Queen.
- Users submit videos on equal footing with studios and television stations
- Community of members vote on, subscribe to, and respond to other peoples‘ video content

Viewers are not passive, like w/TV. Users:
- Actively make content to upload or record
- Actively select content in subscriptions
- Actively share content on blogs and MySpace
- Actively participate in conversation and community around the videos

More than just videos, it’s conversation and active, passionate, loyal community – and well-profiled users.

Users can respond to video content with video responses as well as text comments

YouTube is a Profile-Driven Social Network

Personal and professional YouTube profile. Users can include a bio, links, and other personal information.

Like MySpace, YouTube users may befriend each other and send messages

This user is a Director, allowing uploads of videos over 5 minutes in length.

Featured Content features the videos that the user has produced or uploaded. The idea is either to be known for what you produce, film, or upload.

The entire collection of that user’s uploads, along with descriptions, ratings, and the ability to view the movies inline.

YouTube is Being Used for Engagement Advertising

Each group has an entire message board associated with the group in which users may participate.

YouTube offers “groups??? that are often used by organizations, foundations, companies, producers, studios, and filmmakers to help promote their business, policy, politics, issue or movie online.

YouTube users are encouraged to join the group, participate in the conversation, and submit videos for inclusion on the Groups collaborative conversation.

Members of the group may upload their own videos content to the group.

“Freedom Writers??? Movie Agency developed the ‘Be Heard’ community on YouTube to link with their site

Widgetization all the Way to Along the Long Tail

YouTube Set the Standard for Widgets
- YouTube made „sharing“ video content as easy as humanly possibly.

YouTube made sharing widgets absolutely easier to „share“ than any other source.

Before YouTube‘s ground-breaking in-line code embed, Google Video, etc, couldn‘t catch fire online.

YouTube‘s success was good timing.
- The cost of bandwidth plummetted
- The popular acceptence of broadband skyrocketed.
- MySpace use has become ubiquitous
- Over 51 mio users of MySpace
- 30% of the Internet is on MySpace
- MySpace enables video embed
- Blogging has become commonplace

YouTube was the first video contentprovider to offer “inline??? embed code.

YouTube enables users to post content straight to their blogs.

YouTube provides a very handy tool for sharing video content via email

YouTube has succeeded in aggregating ‚The Long Tail‘

YouTube, an Instant hit in both popular and business culture
- November, 2005: Launched with $3.5MM from Sequoia Capital
- April, 2006: Sequoia injects another $8MM
- October 9th, 2006: Google purchases YouTube for $1.65BB
- Major mentions of YouTube by pop starts and actors
- Jessica Simpson mentions YouTube on Tonight Show
- Lonelygirl15, although a Revver property, came to popularity on Youtube
- YouTube has become the XEROX of Video Social Networds

Massive, Rapid Growth
- 100 million videos viewed daily
- 65,000 new videos uploaded every day
- 72 million visitors per month, primarily in the lucrative 12-17 year-old demo

Assumed to be profitable
- Running costs estimated at $1MM/month (actual numbers proprietary)
- Revenues from GoogleAds estimated by analysts at $5$10 mio/month .

I love it when you meet someone online and hang out on Google Talk and then come to discover that your buddy, Shmuly Tennenhaus, is actually a YouTube celebrity! I knew Shmuly was funny — the kind of understated humor that dumb folks don’t get — but I didn’t know he was famous! Mazel tov!

New Hot Properties: YouTube Celebrities

“No one would mistake the Ask a Jew guy for Lonelygirl15, but these days YouTube contributor Shmuel Tennenhaus is feeling like a hot commodity.

Mr. Tennenhaus, an aspiring comedy writer who gained a modest following on YouTube for his droll question-and-answer clips and other spots featuring his grandmother “Bubby,??? is being wooed by the site’s competitors, including Metacafe, ManiaTV and others, with promises of guaranteed exposure, a share of advertising money, or both.

“It’s all very odd,??? said Mr. Tennenhaus, speaking from Hallandale, Fla. His YouTube channel, Oneparkave, has logged roughly 32,000 visits and a few hundred subscribers since last fall. “My parents say I’m special, but I can’t imagine I’m the only guy they’re contacting.???

He has that right. The most popular YouTubers, who have generated millions of visits and tens of thousands of subscribers, say they have received overtures from multiple sites. And YouTube, meanwhile, appears ready to respond to the challenge.”

When Viacom floats its day-old content on YouTube, Viacom doesn’t have to host the video, Viacom isn’t responsible for bandwidth, Viacom doesn’t need to support customers, and Viacom has access to one of the most powerful content-distribution channels ever invented for video moving pictures.

Viacom should be thanking its lucky stars that it doesn’t have to pay to have its lame old tired MTV content running on YouTube. Instead, Viacom made the self-destructive hubris to order “YouTubeto remove its content from the video Web site after deciding any marketing boost was illusory.” Via WSJ and FT.

The hubris? Well, “The move threatens to wreck Google’s attempts to cement commercial relationships with traditional media groups, which supply most material.” FT

Well, Viacom is not only messing with YouTube, a new brand and not old brands, but with Google, a brand that seriously owns the Internet.

“Viacom believes it has particular leverage because it specialises in youth-oriented and short-form video clips. It has previously demanded that clips from programmes such as Comedy Central’s Daily Show be removed.” FT

Well, truth be told, YouTube helped to make the Daily Show and The Colbert Report, not the other way around. YouTube is the king-maker.

This is an amazing opportunity for another property to become the new Daily Show or the new The Colbert Report.

Sorry Viacom, YouTube/Google is so much hotter than you. You have a seriously inflated ego and sense of self.

Excellent points, Shmuly, and I love your show, Shmuly. I am going to subscribe to your videos and add you as my friend.

Shmuel Tennenhaus is one hell of a funny guy. But his humor is dry, so pay attention!

PS, Shmuly, I think everyone knows that YouTube has distribution and partnering deals with Universal Music Group, CBS, Sony BMG, BSkyB (39 percent owned by News Corp.), Warner Music, NBC Universal, and the National Hockey League (NHL), last time I checked.