Video Brings Potential and Opportunity

When I placed a general search for the term "how-to video" on YouTube, one of the most popular video posting sites, I got over 2,910,000 results. I’ve heard many people in the creative community say that they are visual learners. A book or project blog post just can’t bring that to the table, so many people are actively searching for online videos.

My husband learned to take apart and clean an antique gun from a video on YouTube. More and more people are turning to the Internet in their search for information and, amazingly, even the most obscure art (like aboriginal dot painting) has a host of related videos.

Since there are almost 3 million "how-to" videos on YouTube, I decided to get a little more specific with my searches and I found that the results were very interesting.

• How to Paint: 486,000 videos
• How to Aboriginal Dot Painting: 231 videos
• How to paint on gourds: 75 videos
• How to crochet: 11,700 videos
• How to crochet a granny square: 1,120 videos
• How to knit: 11,600 videos
• How to knit socks: 916 videos
• How to make a video: 3,070,000 videos
• How to make a craft video: 168,000 videos
• How to make jewelry: 34,000 videos
• How to scrapbook: 4,870 videos
• How to rubberstamp: 1,450 videos
• How to make a glass bead: 1,270 videos
• How to work with polymer clay: 379 videos

The videos I found had anywhere from 5 views to 316,046 views! Imagine creating a video that showcases how to make something. Now imagine thousands of people from all over the world using your video to learn on their own! We’ve seen plenty of ordinary people become rock stars just by posting video on the web. There is a need for video content and opportunities for online classes and web-based shows that can be sponsored. The income potential is there!

Once I discovered a few videos of interest, I ended up clicking on the individual or company's YouTube channel. Channels varied from very basic (no branding, designs, etc.) to all the bells and whistles (unique backgrounds, images, logos). The smart channels used important keywords like "how to", and specific techniques like painting, knitting or beaded jewelry. This way, anyone searching for these kinds of videos can quickly find what they need. Smart channels also use keywords in the title, description and keyword index.

The more hits or views a video gets, the more likely it is that the video will catch the attention of YouTube junkies and the YouTube staff. Great videos are shared across social media sites and sent to e-mail inboxes. These viewers can increase your views and can help you become a promoted video. There are several kinds of channels on YouTube, so do your research for this site and other video posting sites.

As with any social media site, you have to remain active. You can’t just post a video and hope people find it. Instead, you must promote it. Setting up a spot where you post and promote videos regularly and improving your video skills will help you build a body of work that you can present to interested parties like FaveCrafts. In fact, FaveCrafts is actively seeking craft video tutorials and is willing to pay for them.