By now you probably have a high-level of interest in finding out more about YouTube. Before we talk more about getting in on YouTube and making it work for you, let's review YouTube's brief history, as it is.
YouTube was "born" from the creative minds of former PayPal employees. YouTube first became active on February 15, 2005 . As you can see, despite its enormous success the site is still in its infancy.
The start-up found funding in the form of venture capital from Sequioa Capital, raising $3.5 million dollars for the site. The venture capital firm later invested another $8million dollars into the company, helping spur its popularity during the last year and a half. This just shows you how attractive YouTube's business model was and how many people instantly recognized the promise this site had to offer.
Today many refer to YouTube as the, "fastest growing website on the web."
"YouTube is one of the fastest growing Web 2.0 sites to make history today."
Over 100 million visitors watch clips each day. By some reports, over 60,000 people upload videos within a single day. YouTube did face many copyright infringement lawsuits, one reason it agreed to the huge settlement deal with Google.
Who Uses YouTube?
Everyone. Even your local politician. Yes, it's true, political candidates and fans alike now use YouTube as an informal medium for advertising. Barack Obama is one of a few candidates that have a large fan base on YouTube.
Many political commentators are joining in, realizing millions may hear their voice and message, and even internationally candidates are using YouTube as a platform to market their campaign and platforms.
YouTube restricts individuals from sending material with known copyrights. Therefore, NBC was among the first to ask YouTube to remove clips of material including material from the 2006 Olympics, obviously uploaded to the site. YouTube imposed several extra cautionary measures, including limiting video clips to a brief 10-minute tape. This lessened much of NBCs concerns, but added to YouTube's popularity.
Think about it... word of mouth is one of the best ways to promote anything. Interestingly enough, NBC eventually retracted its criticisms and instead decided to collaborate with the company.
Many others are likely to follow suit. YouTube you see, is an exceptional outlet for promoting just about anyone. A short 10-minute clip is more likely to garner increasing interest than it is to damage a corporation's ability to sell its products and services.
Many major media moguls now provide content willingly to YouTube. Among them include CBS, Sony BMG and even Warner productions.
So... Get In Now... And Make Youtube Work For You...!
