YouTube for Professional Development

Posted by Rainier Sky on February 17, 2011

A good friend of mine stopped by the other day and we started talking about how we use the Internet to find information. One of his hobbies is restoring classic cars and he shared a story about finding a trick he learned online that saved him several hundred dollars. He was working on one of the cars when he decided to drove it to a nearby auto parts store. He got back in the car after making his purchase, but he could not put the car in reverse to back out of his parking space. So, he walked home, fired up his laptop and diagnosed the problem. (The brake sensor was not working, so he just put on the parking brake and started the car in neutral.)

Then I shared my story about fixing my son’s Playstation 3. As an early adopter of technology, I had bought one of the first 20-gigabyte PS3s when they first came out. We use it regularly as both a game and entertainment system and I am a huge fan. It stopped working a while back, so I searched the Internet found that others with similar symptoms had diagnosed it as a problem with the Blueray drive – a component you could buy online for roughly $90. Sony wanted $75 just to look at it, and parts would be extra if I wanted them to fix it. So, I bought the part online and replaced it myself with help of several amateur videos I found on YouTube that walked me through the process step-by-step.

My friend was surprised. He thought YouTube was just for watching videos of goofy kids do crazy stunts and half-clothed pop stars that dance better than they sing. On the contrary, I told him, I visit YouTube regularly for professional development — another revelation.

YouTube is a great source of information on just about any subject. In fact, its the second largest search engine on the Internet based on the overall volume of queries. I subscribe to several channels to help me keep pace with the constantly changing world of eMarketing. Here are some of my favorite channels:

Google Business

The Google Business Channel on YouTube

This channel features videos that teach you how to take full advantage of all the free tools available to help you advertise online with Google search and its display network. Check out the video titled “Getting Started with AdWords“.

Google Analytics

It can be a powerful tool showing you how your Website performs in any number of ways, but first you have to know how to use it. While you might have to sift through some of the videos, like the the Q&A series with Vinash Kaushik & Nick Mihailovski, I have found many golden nuggets of information. Start with “Beginning Analytics: Interpreting and Acting on Your Data“.

Google Web Master Central

Want to know how to make better use of your website? This channel features videos that teach you how increase organic search traffic by correcting crawling, indexing and other common errors and improving its overall performance. The video titled “Google Webmaster Tools” offers a good overview.

Facebook

The Official Facebook Channel covers a variety of topics of interest to users, page masters and developers. Want to know more about deals, sponsored stories or even the latest security features. Take a peek at “Building Your Brand with Facebook.”

LinkedIn Marketing

This is probably one of the weaker channels on my list. LinkedIn has yet to fully take advantage of YouTube for teaching company profile managers and advertisers how to make better use of its service. The few videos that are here, however, do have some good tips on how to network on LinkedIn. I like the example featuring Darrell Rheah, CEO of Cheskin, titled “LinkedIn Users – Consulting Agency.

Harvard Business

This channel covers a lot more than marketing, but any business leader who has ever picked up a copy of Harvard Business review will find value in this Channel. While most of it is tied to content and events related to the publication, you will find playlists that cover managing people, leadership, strategy, innovation and more. I like the video titled “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy.”

Common Craft

No list of marketing videos would be complete without a nod to Common Craft, a Seattle-based company that produces simple videos to explain complex subjects in ways that elementary school students can understand. Some of their videos are commissioned and owned by various clients, but this channel features several to which I refer folks all the time. One of my favorites is “Social Media in Plain English“.

To what channels do you subscribe? Let me know by placing your choices in the comments. You can also follow this topic on Quora.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin Bush, Principal & CEO
Rainier Sky Marketing & Public Relations

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