The easiest and fastest way would be to use online video hosting like youtube or vimeo, and then embed them on your site. But if you need to have them hosted on your site read on --

You will need to have some type of software package to convert the video. The best would be Adobe's software, but if you are only doing this for fun then Adobe's prices are a bit rough.

There are several free encoder's out there and some that are moderately priced. Here are a couple of them:
- Riva FLV Encoder (free) http://rivavx.com/index.php?encoder&L=3
- On2 Flix ($40) http://www.on2.com/index.php?387

And here are a few interesting encoding services. Some of them are hosted, meaning you can upload videos manually or through an API. Others are software packages you can install on your own webservers:

1. Microsoft Expression Encoder (Windows, $199, VC-1)
3. FFMPEG (free, H.264, package)
4. HeyWatch! ($0.10 per conversion, H.264, hosted).
5. The VC-1 encoder SDK (free, VC-1, package).
6. The ON2 Flix Engine ($1,000 / year / server, H.264 & VP-6, package).
7. Bits on the Run (free for the first gigabye, VP-6 & H.264, hosted)

Any way that should get you started down the road to converting video to flv. Make sure you look at http://bit.ly/3BM60f and http://bit.ly/xQ2RW for some detailed info on using those programs mentioned. The first page has detailed instructions with pictures on the conversion process for several of the programs (although the programs may be in new versions then shown in the photos).
Source(s):
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic315188.html
http://www.longtailvideo.com/support/tutorials/Web-Video-Compression

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www.media-convert.com will convert almost any audio and video format. It's free, and it's web based, so you don't have to download any software and you can access it from any platform,
Source(s):
www.media-convert.com

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Wondershare
http://www.flashontv.com/video-to-flash.html#135

Some of the key features:
- Can convert WMV, MPEG, AVI, MOV, MP4 to flash FLV, SWF.
- Batches convert & merge several video files into one - this is perfect for lots of video files that need to be converted.

The bad news is the cost: $49.95. However, there is a trial version that you can test. The trial limitation is watermark on the final output of the video.
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Try uSeesoft DVD Ripper .
As far as I know the uSeesoft DVD Ripper can rip DVD movies and convert to all popular video/audio formats, like FLV, AVI, MP4, 3GP, MPEG, WMV, MOV, MP3, M4A, WMA, WAV etc, by titles and chapters.
It can be downloaded here:
http://www.useesoft.com/products/useesoft-dvd-ripper.exe?sa=lxm
The step by step guide for how to use it :
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Useesoft-FLV-Converter?sa=lxm

If necessary, you can also visit http://www.useesoft.com?sa=lxm to learn more rippers or converters that may be helpful to you.
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