As of this writing, this is the home page view of Ustream.TV. As you can see, there are many sections on this page that reveal details of Live Shows, Featured Shows, Most Viewed Shows, Highest Rated Shows, Upcoming Events and much more.

Let me be your Ustream tour guide as I give you a short walkthrough of the home page and what to expect.

(1) At the top of the above image, you’ll see that Ustream.TV offers “Live, Interactive Broadcasting” with the opportunity for you to broadcast your own web TV show to a global audience for free. All it would take is your camcorder (or webcam) and an internet connection. Never has it been easier to broadcast a live interactive, one-to-many, broadcast-to-viewer and viewer-to-viewer interaction that is FREE.

(2) To the left of the home page screenshot, you’ll see a Featured Live Show in action. As you can see, there are 856 Live Shows in action at the time of this capture.

(3) In this window, you’ll see the Featured Live Show video in action, along with the scrolling text of comments from that particular show.

(4) In the grey horizontal bar, you can see the number count of viewers watching the show, along with other video features eg. Poll, Play, Pause and Menu.

(5) If you’re interested in this show, you can click the “Go to Show Room and Chat” button to view the Show’s dedicated page.

(6) To the right of the Live Show video window, you’ll see 3 tabs. This “Featured” tab lists the video shows that Ustream.TV lists as “Featured Shows”.

(7) If you click the next tab that reads “Most Viewed”, you’ll see a listing of interactive broadcasts that have the most viewed stats. Often, you will find a show repeated across all 3 tabs, which mean they’re very popular and highly rated.

(8) This next tab that reads “Highest Rated” is one that lists live broadcasts with the highest rated comments for that show. (9) My “Half Hour Huddle” show at ShermanHu.tv is still rated on this list, a very proud moment

Moving down the Ustream.TV home page, you’ll see 2 sections titled “Ustream Originals” and “Featured Upcoming”. These sections highlight additional Featured Shows, and what broadcasts are scheduled to go LIVE shortly.

Scrolling down the home page, you’ll see a “Recorded Recently” section that also sports 3 tabs – Featured, Most Viewed and Highest Rated. Live broadcasts that went on air and were recorded will be featured in this section.

(1) To the right of the home page, there’s a column that shows you “Upcoming Events” that will air on Ustream today, tomorrow and later on.

(2) If you need help, there’s a section that offers you advice on getting started, FAQs, forums, live chat and also a way to contact Ustream.

(1) I’d like to call your attention to the Live button at the top of the home page. If you click this button, you’ll see all the Live shows airing on Ustream at this moment. The image below shows you the detailed view.

(1) Why is this important? It’s key to study who is broadcasting on Ustream, especially Featured Shows with the most viewers and comments. Studying their topic, show details and audience type will give you insights on what’s hot and working for these Featured broadcasters that you can adopt for your own show.

(2) As an example, Chris Pirillo is a very popular “tech” broadcaster with 3 shows on schedule at Ustream.TV – one of the shows is recorded for CNN.com LIVE. In addition, he’s “Video Lifestreaming” on Ustream , whereby his camera is rolling and capturing Chris at his desk or not, 24/7. Chris has a large Ustream following of 2,500+ viewers, 8+ million views and 1,300+ comments across his 1,500+ video clips. Even when Chris Pirillo is working on projects and is not actively connecting with his audience, there are still hundreds of viewers interacting with each other on his show!

Now that I’ve give you the tour of the home page, let me give you a guided tour of my Live “Half Hour Huddle” Show page at ShermanHu.tv. This will give you a visual overview of what is possible with your own show. While guiding you with the setup of your own show, I’ll use my Live Show frontstage and backstage view as a case study.

This is the “Half Hour Huddle” Ustream page. “Half Hour Huddle” is a half hour Live Ustream show that airs every Monday. The show’s purpose is to simplify and demystify new media and technology so business owners can profit from it. Because of the show’s topic and reach that Ustream offers, my show attracts business owners and entrepreneurs from all over the world.

(1) At the top of the page, you’ll see a masthead graphic for the show. In a few moments, I’ll show you how to add your own masthead graphic in your Ustream dashboard.

(2) This video window is what your viewers see when you’re LIVE on the air. In this recent episode, I invited my 10 year old son to be my special guest and to help me co-host my Huddle – it was alot of fun! When I show you around backstage, you’ll see the video and audio sources you have to work with. Naturally, the better your video, audio and lighting gear is, the higher the quality your output will be. WIth that in mind, you don’t have to spend alot of money to get a decent setup in your office or home studio.

(3) If you look to the right of the window, you’ll see the “User List” in the narrow far right column. When your viewers come on the show, their names will appear in this column. If they register for a free Ustream ID and login with it, their user ID names will appear in this column. If not, their user ID names are generic Ustream numbered IDs.

(4) In the horizontal text box, your viewers will have the opportunity to interact and dialog with you and the other viewers in your show. The side benefit to this feature is that viewers who are typically shy and do not speak up in teleconferences are more apt to type in their questions in this format. In addition, you control the pace of your show and do not have to mess with muting and unmuting conference lines.

(5) This text box shows the ongoing threads of conversation and interaction between you and your viewers. Hyperlinks will appear as clickable links in this window pane.

Let’s scroll down the page a little and I’ll guide you through a few more sections before we setup your own Ustream show.

(1) This section of your Ustream page informs your viewers what your show is about, the topics (tags) you cover, and additional stats. Your viewers have the opportunity to rate your show by clicking on the stars below your Show’s Image.

(2) If you setup a regular schedule for your show, the details will appear in the Schedule section of your Ustream page. Your viewers can click the “Follow” button to follow and be notified of your show before it happens.

(3) After you “Stop Recording” each show, Ustream will encode and archive your videos in the “Video Clips” section. A tip for you: Title and describe your videos effectively will help in your findability on Google.

(4) Your viewers can add their comments, feedback and even testimonials in your “Comments” section.

In this image, you’ll see the latest comment thread for my show. At the end of my broadcasts, you’ll commonly see me encouraging and welcoming feedback from my viewers to add their comments in the Comments Box. This helps me gain insight into their “takeaways”, feedback and suggestions on what they would like to see on future shows. It’s also helpful that the more comments they share, it improves my “Highest Rated” stats.

Now it’s your turn. Set this guide beside you as you walk yourself through your own setup with the instructions below. By the end of this, you will have setup and customized your own Live Interactive Broadcast show! Let’s begin…

At the top left of the Ustream.TV home page, there’s a “Login” and “Sign Up” link. Click the “Sign Up” link.

In the New Account popup box, input your details.

(1) First, your desired login name.

(2) & (3) Next, enter your private password twice, once in the Password field, once in the Verify field.

(4) Next, enter your birthdate details. You have a choice to enter your real birthdate, or make up one if you want to preserve your privacy.

(5) Enter your email address in the next field. Use a primary email address so you can receive notifications from Ustream.

(6) Enter the text you see in the image in the Verification Text field. This is to ensure that only human visitors are registering for accounts.

(7) Checkbox this box after agreeing to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

(8) When you’re done, click the “Submit” button.

On the next page, you’re provided with a form to input your profile information.

(1) Simply enter your personal details in the fields requested of you. The only field that’s optional is the Promotion Code. Leave this field blank.

(2) When you’re done, click the “Submit” button.

These 2 sections in the next page are to import contacts from your email account and to notify your Twitter followers of your new Ustream account.

Personally, I would not recommend you notify or invite your colleagues and friends to your Ustream page at this time. My recommendation is to get your account setup to your satisfaction (eg. consistent creative with your branding) before you update your “tribe” about your new initiative.

At this point, I recommend you click the “Skip this step” link to move to the next step.

It’s time to name your show.

It makes sense to name your show so it accurately describes your show topic. However, here’s an insider tip. This show name is appended to your Ustream.TV URL.

For example, my ShermanHu.tv URL redirects to www.ustream.tv/channel/shermanlive. And Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Wine Library TV” Ustream URL is www.ustream.tv/channel/wine-library-tv.

Hence, I recommend keeping your Show Name short and ‘radio-friendly’ so it’s easier to share it with your audience.

One more tip for you. To preserve brand consistency along with easy word-of-mouth promotions, use a short and memorable URL rather than the longer Ustream URL. You can redirect a domain or sub-domain to your Ustream.TV URL. In my case, ShermanHu.tv redirects to www.ustream.tv/channel/shermanlive.

As this new account sign up is only for demo purposes, I’ll name it ‘TutorialU’.

After naming your show, click the blue “Save My Show” button.

After saving your show, you’ll be directed to the backstage dashboard where you have the opportunity to customize and design your show settings.

Right now, I’d like to show you what your show page will look like without any customization.

If you’re using a tab-able browser (eg. Firefox, IE, Safari), right-click the “Go to Show URL” link and open it in a new tab.

Here’s what your show page looks like without any masthead graphic, color customization and content. There’s no magic or pizzazz with it being “plain jane”. Let’s change that, shall we?

Return to the older browser tab where you have your Show’s dashboard and let’s start customizing your show.

Let me present my “Half Hour Huddle” (ShermanHu.tv) show as a case study to show you how customized your show page can be.

In the “Info” tab, begin selecting:

(1) The Recommended Tag categories, and (2) up to 4 appropriate sub-categories. (Pay attention to this section as you’ll see it in the frontstage view in the next step)

(3) Next, input additional tags (ie. topical keywords) in this field to describe your show. Be sure to separate each tag with a space or comma. When we view the fronstage of the Show, you’ll see these tags appear.

(4) If you would prefer to use the high quality encoder that Ustream offers, check this box and follow the instructions to make it work for you. At this present time, this encoder only works for broadcasters using PCs. Mac broadcasters will have to wait for the time-being.

(5) Begin to “Describe your show” in this box. This gives your audience a sense for your show’s topic and what to expect from you. You can add HTML but not Javascript code in this description box. You can see that I’ve added a hyperlink to my Show URL so it’s clickable. Feel free to add links to your websites/blogs here. (Pay attention to this section as you’ll see it in the frontstage view in the next step)

(6) When you’re done, click the “Save Changes” button.

As you can see, the “Show Info” section reveals the “Tags” as inserted into Step #2 in the previous image. And the “About ShermanLive” section reveals the description I inserted in Step #5 in the previous image. As a result of adding the hyperlink code in the Description Box, you can see the blue hyperlinks here now.

This Design tab allows you to creatively customize your Show page. After modifying some of these settings, I’ll show you the frontstage view.

(1) If you would like to upload a background image, click the “Choose File” button and select your desired background image from your local files. Personally, I do not use this field, but I do customize the background color.

(2) If you would like to upload a header image, click the “Choose File” button and select your desired masthead graphic from your local files. Personally, I’ve uploaded a masthead that is 925px wide.

In the “Edit Stylesheet” section, you can modify the colors of the different sections on your show page.

(3) To modify your main background color, either input your “Hexadecimal Color Codes” or click the color box to select a preferred color. I’ve selected a black background for mine with the #000000 HEX code.

(4) Each content box section of your Show page has a header. This field allows you to modify the header color. I’ve selected a burgundy for my header color, #630000 HEX code.

(5) In this field, choose the background color of your content boxes. Personally, I prefer to see black text on white backgrounds, so this field gets a white background, #FFFFFF Hex code.

(6) This is the color field for the Header text in your boxes. Personally, I’ve chosen white text to stand out from the burgundy header background.

(7) When you’re ready to preview your changes, simply click the blue “Preview” button.

(8) And when complete, click the “Save Changes” button.

(1) As you can see, the wide 925px masthead is visible on the fronstage section of my show page. How’s your masthead graphic look? If it’s looking good, super! If not, feel free to return to your Dashboard and modify as need be.

(2) The header text is in white on this content box header, along with the (3) burgundy content box header.

In this “Clips” tab, you’ll begin to see an archive of your shows when you begin to record your broadcasts.

I’d like to call your attention to the “Past Clips options” and “Off Air Options”.

(1) If you choose the 2nd option, you’ll display all of your recorded clips from all your shows. This is my preferred option.

(2) With the “Off Air Options”, you have 3 choices.

Currently I’m choosing the 2nd option, where I have the last recorded episode auto-play.

Previously, I had selected the 3rd option, which is to rotate through my pictures. Except that I only had 1 image, so it acted as a static placeholder for my video show until I came on Live. The choice is entirely yours.

(3) After making your selections, click the “Save Changes” button.

In this Share tab, you have embed codes you can copy and paste to your website, blog or social media pages. You can use the URL link to paste into your Facebook, Twitter, blog or email. You can embed the video and chat into your website and blog too. However you do this, it’ll allow you to share your LIVE broadcasts on any or all of your web properties. When you go LIVE, all those video windows will also feature your broadcast and you get to be syndicated all over the place on the web.

Let’s walkthrough the “Advanced” tab for your show settings.

(1) Would you like to allow everybody to leave comments with or without your approval? Select the radial button of your choice.

(2) Let’s modify the chat display settings, shall we?

It makes sense to check the “Yes” radial button to have your chatbox display for audience interaction.

If you prefer your visitors to register for and login with their free Ustream ID before they can chat, then check this “Yes” radial button too.

If you have someone you’d like to assign as a moderator, here’s where you add their Ustream ID.

(3) There may be broadcasts you’d like to keep private and this is where you can do it. Simply check the “Yes” radial button and insert your chosen password.

(4) Ustream offers co-hosting opportunities. Here’s where you choose your co-host preferences. Personally, my choice is the 3rd option where I require permissions before I will allow co-hosting.

(5) If you’d like to see a count of the number of viewers seeing you show, then check this “Yes” radial button.

(6) When you’re done, click the “Save Changes” button.

If you have a regular show or planning one, you can click the “Add new event” button and schedule one here.

Here’s an inside look at my “Half Hour Huddle” schedule. You can add your Title, Description, Start Time and Length, Repeat schedule and Time Zone. When you’re ready, click the “Update” button.

It’s wonderful that Ustream offers a metrics feature to track your broadcast start and end times, total viewer hours, how many unique, total and average number of viewers watch your LIVE and Archived shows. You can filter your metrics by time periods too.

Check it, know your metrics, and modify your show to give your audience what they want and they’ll love you for it.

Click the orange “Broadcast Now” button and let’s get you broadcasting!

(1) Video WIndow: Here’s the local view of you on camera. This is what your viewers will see when you go LIVE.

(2) Video Source: You have a drop down table selection for your video source. In the next screenshot, we’ll show you the options you have.

(3) Audio Source: You have the same selection options here. We’ll take a closer look at the options you have for audio in a moment.

(4) Text Box: During the show, you’ll see your viewers’ comments typed into this box. In addition, you get to respond in this field and publish it into the discussion thread too.

(5) User List: When you’re on the air, you’ll see a growing list of users in this right column. When you have moderator status, you have additional privileges to moderate viewers. I’ll show you some of those privileges in a screenshot below.

(6) Feature Tabs: The horizontal tabs above the text box give you additional features to work with. We’ll look at Twitter and Overlays in a moment.

(7) & (8) These 2 green buttons help you work your magic. Clicking on these buttons help you broadcast your Live Show along with recording your show for your video archives.

(9) Info Tab: Any actions you deploy during the show will update this info tab with status updates.

(10) No. of Viewers: This shows you the total count of viewers watching your broadcast. Remember, this count includes the viewers who watch your show via windows you embed on your blog, website and social media properties too.

When you click the drop down table for Video Source, you’ll be offered a variety of video sources to use. If you’re using a webcam that’s connected and powered on, it should read in this selection. In my situation, my built-in isight webcam on my Macbook Pro reads “USB Video Class Video”.

Personally, for best video quality, I choose “DV Video” to select my prosumer camcorder that’s connected to my laptop via a firewire cable. I have a dedicated camcorder on a tripod that’s ready to be fired up and connected ot my laptop at a moment’s notice. You’ll see the vast difference in video picture quality of the previous image, compared to the USB webcam image below.

There are video drivers you can use to show video effects and to flip the camcorder view to your desktop. I won’t detail them in this guide, but you can research it for yourself. For Mac users, there’s a free video driver called CamTwist (www.allocinit.com/index.php?title=CamTwist). For Windows users, there’s a paid video driver called WebCamMax (www.webcammax.com). Both of them achieve similar results with giving you creative effects for your broadcast videos.

(1) With the “USB Video Class Video” option selected, you can see the picture quality captured by my built-in isight camera on my Macbook Pro.

(2) Video & Audio Broadcast Checkboxes: In the case you want to only broadcast audio or video, you can check or uncheck these boxes. Personally, I use this when I want to keep my video or audio private at a moment’s notice.

(3) VU Meter and Volume: You can monitor your volume and modify volume settings here.

There are 2 options I commonly use for Audio Options. Either my “Built-In Microphone” or the “Built-In Input” setting. The “Built-In Input” setting is used when I plug the cable that is connected to my mixer and professional RODE NT1-A podcast mic into my Macbook Pro. If I’m without my mic, I would then use my built-in mic on the laptop.

If you are in the market for a good and affordable podcast mic, I would recommend the RODE Podcaster mic. It’s white in color, has a very high quality sound, and even allows you to plug in a headset to itself to monitor your sound. It sells for approximately $200 on Amazon. You can go for inexpensive options too, but you get what you put into it.

One piece of advice: Your viewers will be more forgiving of your video quality if your audio and lighting is solid.

One of the privileges you get as a broadcaster is to moderate your viewers / users. But first, you have to type in:

!moderateon

into your text box. This gives you right-click functionality when you perform it on a viewer’s user id. Let’s view a few of these privileges below.

In addition, if you type in:

!topic

followed by a space, then your topic name, it’ll appear as the topic at the top of the Text box to your viewers.

If you right click on a users’ ID, you have these options:

- Send them a private message
- Ban them from your show, which means their user IDs disappear from the User ID list
- Devoice them, which means they can text chat, but none of your other users will see their messages

You can view Ustream’s help files for more information on these moderator privileges. The above 3 features are what I use most often.

Want to notify your audience of followers at Twitter that you’re broadcasting LIVE? If so, click the “Send Twitter” tab, modify the text details if needed, then click the “Send ” button. Ustream will send out a tweet to your followers, notifying them that you’re on the air.

Ustream is offering a new feature called Overlays. You can overlay a YouTube video on your video window while you’re broadcasting or overlay a line of text eg. the title of your show, an announcement or your latest product/service offering.

These 2 green buttons help you make magic. When you’re ready to bring on the thunder, click on them.

When you click on “Start Broadcasting”, the button turns to red. This means you’re broadcasting LIVE now. Clicking it again will help you to “Stop Broadcasting”.

When you click on the “Start Recording” button, it’ll turn to red. This means you’re recording your broadcast now. Clicking it again will help you to “Stop Recording”.

After you click the “Stop Recording” red button, a “Recording Preview” screen will appear. You can click the “Play” button to preview what you just recorded, click “Delete” to erase your recording, or click “Save” to begin encoding the video and archiving it. I recommend saving your recordings.

If you have setup your YouTube settings in your Dashboard and your shows are around the 30 minute mark, this Recording Preview screen will also ask you if you want Ustream to send your video to YouTube for you. This is an additional opportunity for you to distribute your recorded broadcasts to the all popular YouTube.

Once your broadcast is encoded, Ustream files your video archives in your “Video Clips” section of your show page. This gives your viewers who did not catch you LIVE to watch your archives.

And there you have it – a very simple process to utilize a live interactive video broadcast platform like Ustream.TV to enable you to quickly and easily broadcast to a global audience of unlimited size with just a camera and an Internet connection.

If you do it well, this live interactive broadcast platform will not only be an engaging experience for your viewers, but it will also empower you to expand your exposure, credibility and attract a flood of tangible and intangible business results for you.

When you take action on this guide, please share your results with me at twitter.com/shermanhu – I would love to see you how you leverage this video broadcasting platform to your advantage.