The following article is reprinted from the August 2009 Plugged In column of Society of American Florists' (SAF) Floral Management Magazine. SAF's Floral Management is distributed to more than 11,000 SAF members and is the floral industry's premier floral business practices publication.

Google delivers 1.2 billion video streams a day via its YouTube property, and those videos aren't all monkeys on scooters.

Some YouTube videos offer valuable information, such as how to grill pork, or what happens when you stick iPods into a blender. (So many people watched Blendtec's low-budget "Will It Blend?" video that the blender manufacturer's sales reportedly increased by 500 percent.)

If people buy a blender after watching it on YouTube, surely your design room tricks are worth their attention and business. At Belvedere Flowers, owner Adam Pomerantz uses YouTube videos to show his shop's full coolers and personality.

Before you turn your design room into a movie set, wise up to some YouTube standards. (Yes, a site featuring college kids making funny faces in their basements has standards.)

• Keep it short. YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley said the average viewing time for a clip is 2.5 minutes.

• Make sure people can see what you're doing. Have good lighting and make your shop's name visible.

• Be heard. Most video-camera microphones are good enough for YouTube, but won't do any good if you don't speak into them or have a lot of background noise.

• Don't just stand there. Do something. Make an arrangement, go on a delivery, ask prom-goers to show off their dance moves. Just remember that your brand of comedy may not be the same as that of your customers.

Create Your YouTube Channel

At www.youtube.com, hit "Sign Up" in the upper right to create an account and channel for your shop. For your user name, consider your Web site URL, "your- shopname.com" but without the .com. You'll be prompted to open a new Google account to complete your account.

Once the account is verified, log back into YouTube and hit "Account" in the top right. Then hit "Profile Setup" on the left. Update the "Website (URL)" box with your shop's Web address and a detailed description. Save your changes and hit "Account" again, then hit "Edit Channel" on the right, then "Channel Design" on the left.

You'll now see "Settings," towards the top left. There, you'll find your channel's YouTube URL - something like http://www.youtube.com/yourflowershop, which you should write down for later. Now input a more legible title such as, "Wedding Flowers in Chicago" in 30 characters or less.

In "Channel Tags," input all the critical keywords used to optimize your Web site, such as "florist Chicago" and "fresh flower delivery." These are the essentials; fill in more later.

Focus on the Camera

You do not need an expensive professional-grade video camera. Any consumer-grade camera purchased within the last few years will do. We recommend the Flip UltraHD, which captures two hours of video in 1280x720 high definition resolution and connects to your computer using a USB port, all for $199. Sony's Webbie HD MHS-PM1 at $170 is another option that, unlike the Flip, can take pictures at 5 megapixels. And the iPhone 3GS has a built-in video-capture capabilities.

PC users can manage video using free MovieMaker software. Mac users can use free iMovie software. Flip cameras work with its FlipShare program, which can be used on Macs and PCs.

Roll ‘Em

YouTube requests videos to be exported from FlipShare, iMovie and MovieMaker with the following specs: 640x480 (standard definition) or 1280x720; using the H.264, Mpeg-2 or Mpeg-4 codec; and MP3 or AAC audio codec in two ste- reo channels. The video cannot exceed 10 minutes run time and your file size cannot exceed 2 GB.

Log into YouTube, hit "Account" and click "Uploaded Videos" under "My Videos" in the Overview section. Click "Start uploading a video now." Click "Upload Video" which prompts you to select the file (on your desktop). You'll have the option of providing a title, de- scription and tags. (Again, think search engine optimization.) Then select the appropriate category and save your changes. That's it!

Build Your Fan Base

Now let's promote your new flick. Log into YouTube, hit "Account" then click "Uploaded Videos." Click the title on any of your videos. You'll see on the right side of the next screen "URL" and "Embed." The code found in the "Embed" box can be pasted into your Web page's code for the video to appear as playable on your page - consult your Web provider for details.

And don't forget to put your YouTube URL on your Facebook and MySpace pages.

Renato Sogueco is SAF's chief information officer. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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