If you find yourself uploading a lot of clips to several video-sharing sites -- particularly if it's part of your job -- you might start looking for ways to speed up the compressing and uploading process. There are several software programs you can download that'll automatically compress and format video clips as Flash 8 files that can either be uploaded to sites like YouTube or embedded directly into blogs, personal Web pages or social network profile pages.

© Photographer: Daniel Padavona | Agency: Dreamstime
Various software programs allow users to edit and post multiple videos onto video-sharing sites.

There are also software programs -- for purchase and free -- that can submit the same video clip to multiple video-sharing sites simultaneously. Tubemogul is a free Web site that'll submit your clip to all of the major video-sharing sites, then track how many viewers watched the clip on each site. This tracking service is useful when a video clip is part of an advertising or marketing campaign.

But maybe you think you can compete with the YouTubes and the DailyMotions of the world. Or you simply want to set up a video-sharing site for your company, school or organization. There are several software programs you can buy that market themselves as "YouTube clones." For anywhere from $50 to $300, you can buy a pre-made script that allows you to quickly create a Web site with the same functions as all of the major video-sharing sites. These functions include:

Site-wide search capabilities
Ability to feature most popular videos, recently uploaded videos, editor's picks
Sort videos by different groups and categories
List similar videos alongside each clip, more clips from the same user
Create profile pages, form groups, send messages, post comments
Manage user account: password, e-mail, newsletter sign-up, billing
Administration panel for managing entire site

We hope this HowStuffWorks article has been a helpful introduction to the tremendously popular world of video sharing. For more information on video sharing and related topics, check out the links on the next page.