Posting a video can be a cheap and easy way to promote your business, but as you can see from the recent Microsoft “launch party” clips, it can be a tough thing to do well.

The Wall Street Journal’s Raymund Flandez recently wrote about a few simple tricks to coming up with a video that’ll get plenty of viewers on places like YouTube.

And we’re talking here about the right kind of views. Not the ones that have potential customers and clients mocking your firm, its services or products.

Flandez tips for getting your clip to go viral:

1. Remember who you is watching: That would be your target audience, your business’  best and most likely customers or clients. Be sure you understand their level of sophistication, their sense of humor and the amount of info they’ll need to decide you’re a good fit for what they need or want.
2. Don’t reinvent the wheel: You don’t have to create this thing out of whole cloth. If you can put together a montage of clips or examples of what could happen if a viewer doesn’t become your customer (bloopers are great for this kind of thing), do it. Creating a contest and getting others to make video entries that promote your products can be another great way to stimulate buzz about your company.
3. Use a variety to tools to spread your video around: Sites like TrafficGeyser.com can spread your video instantly to scores of video sharing sites. You can also use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to share links and stimulate viewership.

Tags: promo, promotional video, viewership, viral, YouTube