About 200 million video clips are shown on YouTube each day. Thousands of people are literally flocking to YouTube to watch the latest and greatest videos with such energy that network television studios are worried that they will become outdated and obsolete. With this kind of a following, can’t you just feel the marketing potential that YouTube offers?

Now, before you go and try to make a marketing video for YouTube, you need to know a few things. See, popular videos aren’t completely random works made in one night (well, at least this is certainly not the norm). Most great YouTube videos demand thought and preparation, some of which I provide for you below.

1.) When it actually comes to making a video, think about lights, camera, and audio. Lights of different colors and temperatures bring out the camera’s best images. SO, if you can very your lighting, do it. Next, the camera you use can be a webcam, but a decent camera will cost around $1,000. For web videos, web cams are usually sufficient for most videos you’re going to make. Last is audio, which is often overlooked. For your YouTube video, you need a decent microphone to harness good quality sound.

2.) Write an outline of what you want to include in your video. Start off your video by introducing yourself or your business. Next relate to the viewer in some way or another (perhaps you both have shared a similar work experience?). Now, identify a problem the viewer has and share the solution (your product or service). Finally, give the viewer a specific call to action, like going to your website and signing up for your email list!

3.) Keep your video short. The optimal video length is between 30 seconds and 4 minutes. If your video is too long, people simply won’t watch it; on the other hand, if your video is too short, people won’t take your video seriously. Always use good judgment when deciding how much content you want to include in your video.

4.) Keep the tone of your video light. If you really want a viral video, be funny and somewhat random. You can also produce a plain marketing video, but don’t expect it on going viral. In any case, don’t take yourself too seriously. You need to be lighthearted in order to create a popular piece of work.

5.) Optimize your video listing. Do this by having the keywords for your product in the title, tags, and description of the video. Also be sure to use long-tail keywords and keyword phrases. Last, have many variations of your keywords for the final breadth of search engine optimization.

6.) Don’t forget to promote your video! Although YouTube will do some promotion of your video based upon your video description and tags, you need to take some action. Some promotional tools you can use include posting your video to your blog, posting it to your website, emailing your list, and using social bookmarking sites.

With the above tips, you should be well on your way to creating a YouTube video with impact and, hopefully, leads and sales. However, note that I’ve left out one last tip that deals with user comments: Don’t get offended when people leave poor or negative remarks about your video. Also, do not remove these negative comments from the comment area. What you want for your video is attention and discussion. Perhaps your video will stir up a few people and get you lots of attention. This is what happens to the most popular videos online; so, don’t limit yourself and the potential of your video!