It’s estimated that over 200 million video clips are viewed on YouTube every day. That’s a lot of eyeballs and a massive potential market, something that hasn’t been lost on corporates who actively promote their brands on YouTube - brands such as Coke, Nike, Smirnoff and Snickers to name just a few. But the fact is that you don’t need to be a huge company with a huge budget to benefit from YouTube.

Blendtec’s series of hugely successful videos is a perfect example. What started out as a simple, funny, low cost (less than $150) idea became a viral phenomenon that continues to drive traffic to their associated microsite www.willitblend.com which in turn drives online sales. It’s a simple formula, and as an affiliate marketer, you can do the same.

But it’s not about hard selling. Successful YouTube videos work because they’re funny or informative or make the viewer think. If they’re good, they’ll help to reinforce your brand. If they’re really good they’ll encourage the viewer to take some action, referring the video to friends or even visiting a specific website where the real selling can take place, all of which is great for the affiliate marketer.

In order to effectively market your affiliate products on YouTube you will need to be creative. If it’s a particular product you are promoting then record yourself using the product or give a review of your experience with it. If it’s software, then give a demo and show users how it works, what it can do and why it’s so great. Even if it’s an information product, you can still create an effective video. Say it’s the latest ‘How to Build Muscle Fast’ report. What about a clip of you or a friend trying to exercise with everyday household objects and failing miserably? Yes it’s a silly example but you get the idea. The bottom line is, ‘think like your potential viewer’ – what would make them laugh or grab their interest?

Once you’ve had that killer idea you need to shoot it, but that can be cheaper and easier than you think, and in some cases, you don’t even need a traditional video camera. The latest web cameras are more than adequate in terms of image quality and if you are creating a demo of software or something online you can use screen recording software which you can download on the Internet for free. As for the software needed to edit your video and add the necessary branding and affiliate information – it’s all available for free as well – downloadable from the Internet or if you use Windows there’s Windows Movie Maker.

Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not always a quick and easy task to create a great video and it may take some time to fine tune your ideas and learn the intricacies of YouTube to get the best results, but it can be fun and worth it in the long run. Who knows, you may just become the next YouTube celebrity. However, the real benefit of affiliate marketing on YouTube is that a great video can drive huge amounts of traffic to your website or anywhere else you choose and best of all it’s free.