While dad watches his son play baseball he can take phone calls, send and receive messages and event conduct a business transaction or two. Meanwhile, ?Slugger's? sister can be text messaging friends and watching video clips on her cell phone or sending pictures of her brother's game to grandma.



I was on the phone once with a salesman for a product I really needed. As it turns out he was on a freeway in Dallas faxing me the specifications while emailing the parent company in Virginia ? and passing a few cars.

While I don't recommend his approach to highway safety I do understand that the delivery methods consumers expect have changed dramatically.

Video streaming is one of the most dramatic changes in content delivery. Where once you were tied to your home television, now many vehicles come equipped with DVD players. Many laptop computers also come with DVD players and burners. A Blackberry can allow you to do multiple tasks including making and receiving calls as well as Internet functionality. This makes it possible to watch video via a highly portable device.

New deals are routinely inked that allow video content to be delivered through sites like YouTube. A world that's on the go can now go and still have access to what they want to see.

As a business owner you should work to harness this portability with content that can be consumed on the go. Video streaming is much more acceptable in the world of portadestrians (my name for them) than static text.

Amateur video still finds great favor with portadestrians if the content is compelling.

Pike's Fish Market in Seattle is a fun place to visit, however, if you simply want to view the fun they are having at any given moment you can tap into their live web cam and experience a few minutes with flying fish.

The Internet has allowed the consumer to be in total control of what they want to see, when they want to see it and how they will download it.

If you've never considered video streaming the concept can seem a little overwhelming, but using video streaming can be a solid marketing tool used to entertain and inform potential customers.