YOUTUBE – FROM $0 TO $165M
YouTube launched in November 2005 as a personal video sharing service, and has grown into an entertainment destination with more than 65,000 videos being uploaded daily. Visitors watch more than 100 million videos each day.
In October of 2006 Google announced that it was purchasing YouTube for $1.65 billion.
SHOULD YOU YOUTUBE YOUR SITE?
Now that Google has acquired Youtube.com, there is a need to pay attention to this new medium and see if you can utilize it to help with the online promotion of your web site.
I think in many cases embedding YouTube video on your site is probably not the best, or most professional, thing to do… but there are applications where it can be helpful.
BROADCAST YOURSELF
YouTube’s slogan is “Broadcast Yourself” and that is what we did. My daughter is a 16 year old high school junior who plays volleyball. She has been approached by several colleges about playing volleyball for their school; and there are many colleges that she wanted to contact as well.
The typical process is that an athlete sends a DVD to the school, they get around to looking at it, then they follow-up if interested. She created an online college volleyball recruiting site that allows college coaches to “meet” her online. In less time than it takes for a coach to open the mail, walk over to the DVD TV and find the remote, they can watch a video on Kenz and know if they want to recruit her or not.
Click on the “PLAY” arrow to watch
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE – COLLEGE COACH SPEED DATING WITH YOUTUBE
In this way, YouTube can become a “speed dating site” between prospective high school athletes and college coaches.
She incorporated YouTube video on her site rather than just adding video directly to her web pages. We debated just loading video onto her site and bypassing YouTube, but I wanted her to have the extra exposure YouTube offers, plus at the end of her YouTube videos she offers the link to her site. This way she may get noticed at YouTube and via her site. I also attempted to optimize the YouTube video tags in an attempt to drive more traffic.
A YOUTUBE VIDEO IS WORTH A THOUSAND DOLLARS
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a YouTube video can be worth thousands of dollars in an athletic scholarhsip is obtained. Last week she sent out her first emails to college coaches. Within in 72 hours she received these replies:
Kenzie, Forget the part about sending a video tape. I was able to view your links attached to the email. I was impressed with how much you penetrated over the net when blocking. You bring power when you hit too! You are fun to watch. I know you’d bring strength to our team and depth in the S/RS position. I also noticed that you hand dig. I like when players do that. When you aren’t afraid to use your hands you are able to dig more balls. So needless to say I’m impressed with your style of play. I think you could make an immediate impact in this program. Keep me updated on everything on you end. I look forward to hearing back from you soon!<<>>
Kenzie, I have spent way too much time this morning playing around on your website. Needless to say, I’ve very impressed not only with the great website but with you. I think you are a great mix of a serious competitor, hard work, talent, personality and intelligence. Everything I like in a player. I look forward to recruiting over the next year or so. <<>>
Kenzie, Thanks again for the website link. I was very impressed and there was a lot of great information. I really feel like I have a good feel for you and the kind of person you are which is a very big priority for me and my program. We want great athletes of course but the person has to be great as well.<<>>
Dear Kenzie,That is a very impressive web site and I do plan on watching you play <
Hi Kenzie, I wanted to take 2 seconds to introduce myself. I am the Head Coach for the University volleyball team. I happened across your website and saw that you have a stellar GPA and course load and I know that you play for a good team. If you are at all interested in our school, please let us know and we will send you a recruit card and get the process going. We are in need of a setter pretty soon…one that can step in and run the show as a freshmen. Let me know if you are interested. Good Luck!<<>>
PS. If you will be at the Anaheim qualifier, let me know. My assistant and I will be there. Thanks.
YOUTUBE TRAFFIC INCREASES
Most of her volleyball videos have been up 1-2 months at YouTube.com . Her videos have been viewed as many as 2,000+ times in that short period, obviously not all by coaches.
YOUTUBE – BROADCAST YOURSELF TO COACHES
Obviously this is a very specialized niche, but you can apply the concept to other needs you might have.
In the February 22, 2007 edition of Time magazine, there is an article on how people are using video resumes to obtain jobs. Once the rest of the YouTube generation enters the workplace, “video résumés are going to be as ubiquitous as PDAs or iPods,” says Mark Oldman, a co-president of Vault.com.
See you, or you’ll see me, at YouTube.com
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