The phenomenon of people being able to record and upload their own videos online was made wildly popular with YouTube, as we all know. Year after year, YouTube provides us with new videos that we “must see”, uploaded sometimes by regular people, and lately by companies who are realizing more and more of the potential a viral explosion from YouTube can give. This is a good sign, but the video tool is just getting started and I wanted to talk about two sites which are taking the game to a new level. Those sites are UStream and Justin TV.

What these sites are doing is letting their users stream live their own channels of video. Think about this for a second, consider the implications of letting any person with a web cam and a microphone to broadcast on video whatever they consider interesting, funny, intelligent, etc. The game goes so much deeper than podcasting. With video the possibilities are endless. Some people use it to show themselves playing their favorite videogame, while others put on their own show, with guests and all kinds of TV stuff. People tune in to watch them, just as they used to tune in to watch the news or a random entertainment show years ago. Don’t minimize these sites, these people show really impressive content, and that’s why live, individual, regular, online broadcasting can’t be ignored any longer. And why your company should start considering its business potentiality.

Because of the trust that people put on sites that are ruled “by everyone”, like Twitter, Facebook and in these case, UStream and Justin TV, I see many ways a company could approach these tools in a profitable way. Also, since it’s not expensive at all, and some people are doing it for free already, the costs to promote your content through these sites will be definitely cheaper than through mainstream media. Maybe not the best place for a Fortune 500 company, but definitely a good place for a niche-focused one.

Maybe you can broadcast yourself. Show a human face, connect with your viewers, laugh with them, test your products live, make friends. All these things can only help in social media, because the human side will get you much further in a world where we expect a lot from every company we purchase from. The fact that you would be doing it live in “neutral” ground, is a sign of honesty, is showing us that even though things can go wrong, you are willing to take the extra risk and show up for your customers, just like they are expecting it.

Another way would be to connect with powerful and respected voices that are already “micro-famous” in these sites and ask them to promote your products. If your product is worthy of attention and has quality, there will be no reason for people to say no. The beauty of this strategy is that your customers would be listening from someone that they already trust, someone that they like getting advice from. Also, it would help the person who would promote it to stay on top of things, to make his name even more popular thanks to the reputation that promoting your stuff would bring to him.

These are only two ways to take advantage of live streaming video sites, but there are of course many more. Endless, perhaps. The challenge is for you and your company to accept the sites, and see how you can take advantage of all the possibilities that they can bring. Go to the sites, take a look around, see how much fun people are having with it, and realize how important is for you to be there.

Carlos Miceli. Argentinian. Questioner of things. OwlSparks’ blogger. Freelance writer. Entrepreneur. Every day philosopher. Skill learner.

Tags: Business, online marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Technology, the right way