I have read with interest the many articles mentioning how to get onto YouTube and similar video sharing web sites and the value of doing so. We have produced seven travel and documentary DVDs, and in our attempt to draw people to our web site to buy the DVDs, we have placed many short segments on YouTube and other video sharing web sites. We have our own web site with complete information, short videos and an order form: http://www.aldimarvp.com.

I would like to share with you how YouTube has been driving business to my web site … is has not. Allow me to list a few YouTube statistics.

Stats on YouTube:
Joined in March 2006.
Have place 54 short videos (added in the past 3 years). Use search for: “AldimarVP”.
Have a total of 349,509 views for all videos as of today.
Average 350 views per day. Sometimes as high as 500+ views per day.
Age demographics: 28percent ages 45-54, 24 percent ages 55-64, 19 percent ages 35-44.

In checking my web server log statistics I have the following:
Referrals from YouTube.com in the past five months (Sept 09 - Feb 10): 4. Yup just four.
Referrals from Blip.tv, etc.: Exactly none, zero, zip, 0.

Now in all fairness, people could be simply jotting down my URL and then visiting our web site. However Internet sales have been bleak to say the least. And, considering the age demographics, this group should have money and be interested in our type of DVDs.

Additionally, to promote my business, I joined FaceBook.com in December 09 and set up a Profile and a Page. Now it is too early to tell, but here are some FaceBook statistics.

Sats on FaceBook:
Referrals in December: 6
Referrals in January: 20
Referrals in February: 8

No evident sales yet, but we will see.

I am also working on LinkedIn.com … gotta push on all the buttons.

In Summary - (betcha didn’t think I would get to this).
YouTube and other video hosting sites are great for getting the video out there to be seen. They’re great for hosting videos and setting up links for viewing in emails, web pages and etc. Promotional opportunities would seem to abound for those with and without a business web site. They are a good place for secondary use of videos for product branding.

As for driving purchasing customers to our business web site, our statistics indicate that YouTube and others are questionable at best.