Do You Sizzle?

In the Entertainment Industry there have been two types of marketing that marketers have used to sell entertainment properties. Industry Marketing and Consumer Marketing. Movies have both Industry Trailers and Consumer Trailers. One set of trailers to explain to theater and DVD store owners as well as foreign distributors what the new movies are coming down the pike and one set of trailers for the general public to see in movie theaters and at the beginning of DVDs to get them motivated to watch.

In Television and other entertainment arenas trailers are put together but they are called Presentations or Sizzle Reels. These highlight reels are less story driven and just give a high energy look at what entertainment a company currently has to offer.

Last night at Entertainment Networking Event I had the chance to speak on a panel moderated by NBC Host Shira Lazar with some of the folks from Deca. - The people who just invested in Smosh. This was one of the toughest panels I've ever been on. Not because the questions were hard hitting but because it was in a noisy bar. It was the first time I ever asked people in the audience to leave a panel I was on. I just told them, "If you want to talk leave. Go outside and network." Boom. They did but it was still hard to hear as their noise drifted into the old swimming pool area of the Hollywood Athletic Club where Douglas Fairbanks used to swim.

On the panel we talked the basics of online video monetization to a crowd made up of film and TV people who had not yet posted videos on the Internet. This was a group of people who were looking for work and new ways to make money. A crowed that was thirsty for Online Video 101 information.

Some how we made it through the panel and my big take away was that what ever you are doing to promote yourself, your online video or video series you need to Sizzle. You need to give industry and consumers something exciting that engages them. I didn't get up on that panel to tell talkers to leave but after the panel was over I had people thanking me for doing that and apologizing for other people's behavior. What ever I did made an impression on people and it gave them an opportunity as an ice breaker to talk with me after the show. I sizzled.

I've posted Deca's Sizzle reel here for you all to check out. If you are a media buyer or sponsor who contacts Deca because of my blog please let me know.

And if you have a Sizzle Reel or trailer that you would like me to feature send me an email or post a link to it in the comments.

We all want you to Sizzle.

When Should You Take a Deal?

When Should You Take a Deal? from 1timstreet on Vimeo.

She's been on TV's Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Monk and also writes, producers and stars in her own online video series The Guild but Felicia Day recently told me at NATPE's LATV Fest that she's not just going to take the money for her online video series. Right now Felicia's going the Independent route getting donations, winning awards, and selling DVD's. She's also looking for "smart money" to help her grow the number of webisodes she has and more importantly grow her brand.

I think we are going to see more smart actresses like Felicia Day realize the power of the Internet in creating their own careers and launching their own brands.

Look out, Q4 and 09 are going to be fun times.

Jimmy Hutcheson Ego TV

Jimmy Hutcheson Ego TV from 1timstreet on Vimeo.

From NATPE's LATV Fest in Hollywood, Jimmy Hutcheson of Ego TV talks about the different ways he is making money with online video and celebrities like Tom Arnold.

Are You Monetizing Your Online Video with Live Events?

The Monetization of Online Video is slowly starting to happen. Ad Networks are signing "Video Publishers" to their networks and serving them video ads that still don't pay enough to live on but the it's a work in progress. Sites like Revver and YouTube have partnership programs that pay high viewed video creators enough money to make car payments and sponsorships for high viewed videos pay the best but are hard to find, negotiate and close on a regular basis.

One other online video monetization model is the Live Event model. Simply put, you throw a party and have sponsors pay to provide drinks, gift bags, signage and what ever else you can get them to pay for at your party and you videotape content at the party.

Corporate sponsors have been doing this kind of thing for a long time so it's nothing new to them and some video creators like Dusty Wright and Richard Burns of Culture Catch have been using this model for a couple of years with celebrities like Kevin Bacon and David Lynch.

Reasons Why You Can't Just Post Your Videos and Make a Living:

Was it Gandhi who said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world" ? I want the world to be silly and fun but I also like dark and scary like what Chris Rule has done with the above Mary Poppins Trailer.

French Maid TV is the most fun I've ever had as a producer. I enjoy everything about it except maybe some aspects of Ad and Sponsorship sales but even that can be fun.

In the past I would attend events and I would kind of mumble the name of my production company that no one had ever heard of. Now when asked what I do I relish in the enjoyment of reading the face of the person who asked me as they process the deadpan delivery of my elevator pitch;

"I do a series of online videos where we take products and services that appeal to young men and have French Maids explain how to use them in a "PG-13" - Austin Powers kind of way."

A silly smile comes over their face before they say something like, "That's brilliant." or "That's hilarious." or "That's going to be hugely successful." (Ah, from their mouths to God's ears.) I then proudly hand them my French Maid TV business card and watch them smile and laugh.

Sure all that and any press I get is great for my ego but you can't pay the bills with compliments and press clippings. As I've said before, I really enjoy producing French Maid TV, the only thing that could make it better is if I had a steady stream of sponsors or could just post my videos and make money. Unfortunately that has not happened yet. Why? There are a few reasons:

5 Reasons Why You Can't Just Post Your Videos and Make a Living:

1. The Marketplace is not developed yet.
There are no "Dating Sites" where sponsors and advertisers can easily find content that they want to advertise on. Don't worry they are coming.

2. Big Advertisers are Cruise Ships and Independent Producers are Speed Boats
According to one of Televisions unsung heroes Lee Hunt, who once said something like, "Television Networks and Studios are like cruise ships that plot their courses a year in advance and creative service companies are like speed boats that service those cruise ships." The same is true of online video producers and large advertisers. Viral Video producers want to get paid now. Advertising agencies and large sponsors pay 30-90 days after every quarter. It's hard for independent producers to float the dept of production for that long and it's hard for big companies to change the way they do business.

3. Playing by the Rules Hasn't Paid Off Yet
Sites like Revver and Blip.TV have been the hopes of Independent Producers. Just upload your videos and get paid 30 days later. These sites carefully screen for copyrighted material but other sites who didn't screen for stolen video and music managed to gain the market share and were purchased by companies with deep pockets. Unfortunately because of their size Revver and Blip.TV haven't been able to get high paying advertisers on a consistent basis yet but they might - so keep your fingers crossed.

4. Scale and Reach
Independent video producers don't reach millions of viewers on their own and large advertisers don't want to deal with a bunch of little mom and pops. However, during the Home Video craze the movie studios did deal with small and medium size distributors who dealt with Mom and Pop Video Stores so there could be some opportunity here.

5. Video Producers Aren't Ad Sales People
Creative people look at the word "SALES" as a four letter word. The funny thing is creative people love the word "PITCH" which is just a different word for sales but for some reason creative people have a hard time coming to Jesus with this. We want agents and sales people to do that for us. Well, there ain't enough of the pie yet for that unless we band together and hire a sales team.

All that said I am trying to create the world I want to see as a independent online video producer and I'm testing it out with French Maid TV. I feel very close to having it working so that I can make a living off of it. Once I have that machine (that uses the best monetizing tools the Internet has to offer) up and working I plan on launching new videos that have nothing to do with French Maids. Video that tell stories that make people laugh and videos that tell stories and scare the crap out of people. I also plan on making my video money making machine available to my friends. Once we have it working for a small group of us I'll roll it out to carefully chosen strangers.

Hopefully together we will have scale, reach and be able to post our videos and make a living or better.