Web video is exploding. I was reminded the other day that YouTube, the undisputed leader in the online video wave, was founded in February 2005! What a monumental period of growth for this new industry. YouTube videos are viewed many millions of times each day. Of course, YouTube is no longer alone in the web video world. MetaCafe, video.yahoo, dailymotion, MySpace, and revver each have video sharing capabilities and the number of direct YouTube clones increases daily.

All this video watching presents a great opportunity for green business owners and marketers. While uploading a blatant commercial for your product or company is universally frowned on by both web video hosts and viewers, there are more subtle and effective methods of conveying your commercial message using viral web video. Here are a few points to consider...

• Play to emotion: Whether it be humor and joy through a funny video, swelling love through images of family and kids, or charging self assuredness through images of successful people and wealth, if you can play to the emotions of an issue, you will increase the power of your video tenfold.

• Solve a problem: If you can't play to the emotions, solve a problem. This works particularly well with tech-related businesses or marketing related businesses. The key is to offer real information, not just hype with the promise of good information after the viewer goes to your site and pays money. Use the movie trailer technique of offering at least some of the best parts up front for free.

• Brand your video: A simple graphic with the name of your company, your logo, or (even better) the URL of your website can be easily inserted in the corner of your video frame. Other web video producers do this along with a slick intro to all of their videos which establishes who the video is by, the company name, and ties all of a company's videos together into a consistent image.

• Plan the image in the middle of your video carefully: YouTube and several other similar hosting sites take the exact center frame of your video and use it as the billboard frame of your video. Make sure that center image is a good one; that is eye-catching and conveys the feeling and value of your video.

• Make it easy for others to link to your video: YouTube allows you to choose whether you will allow others to embed your video on their site. Allowing this exposes your video to more eyes. If you have adequately branded your video, why wouldn't you want this?

• Link to your website: If the video host will allow you to include a link to your website in the video information, use that opportunity. Also, end your video with a graphic giving your URL. If a person is adequately moved by your video or wants to know more, that's valuable traffic. You might want to have this traffic land on a page which captures their name and e-mail address in exchange for a free report or eNewsletter rather than attempting a direct sell. Research suggests that it can take up to seven contacts before a prospective customer is ready to buy. A free report and/or a newsletter will allow you to build the prospects trust in you, your products, and your company. Court them!

• Spread it around!: Remember that YouTube is no longer the only game on the web. Make sure to get your video posted in on as many venues as you can. Each of the major players has its own strengths and its own unique set of loyal viewers. Spending a few minutes loading your video on multiple sites means more valuable exposure. If you have many videos, a good method is to create a database of sites used for each video, along with your login name and password for each site. This will allow you to periodically check on your feedback and link status for each of your videos.