Here are some quick YouTube how-tos:

How to sign up for YouTube

1. Go to http://youtube.com and click the “Create Account” link that appears in the top right corner of the page.

2. Enter your desired username, as well as the rest of the information on the page.

3. Once you receive the confirmation e-mail and are logged in, click on your new account name link that appears at the top right side.

4. Click “Profile Setup” and fill in your profile with a photo, your bio, a link to any other social media profile or your company Web site.

How to upload a video to YouTube

1. Click the yellow “Upload” button at the top right of the page. On the next page, click the yellow “Upload Video” button.

2. Find the video you want to upload. Click “Open” once you’ve found it.

3. While the file uploads, be sure to write out a proper, concise title and description for the video. Pick a couple of tags (e.g. “news,” “chicago,” or your publication’s name), and choose a category for your video.

4. To see the video after it’s been uploaded, go to your “My Videos” page and it should appear.

Customize your YouTube channel

A user’s YouTube profile content is presented in what’s called a YouTube channel, and if you’ve created a profile for your brand, you’ll want to customize the look and feel of your channel page.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to your YouTube account page and click the “Edit Channel” link on the right side of the page. You’ll be taken to your “My Profile” page.

2. Your default account type will be set as “Youtuber.” There are other types, such as “Reporter” or “Director,” but you’ll may just want to leave it as “YouTuber.”

3. Finally, you may want to customize the look and feel of your Channel. To do this, click the “Channel Design” link on the left side of your “My Profile” page. Once you click through, there are some preset themes you can use, or you can customize your page with special colors – you’ll need the specific color values – or you could upload a picture as your YouTube channel background.

- Daniel B. Honigman