SXSW: Some Options for Making Money From Your Online Videos

At SXSW, Rob Millis and Will Coghlan of the newly launched Dynamo Player talked about different routes online video producers can take to try and make a buck. While the discussion ultimately led up to the duo's demo of its new product, it was not above representing some different options fairly. The two talked about some of the pros and cons of advertising, such as:

Pros

- Fosters dramatic growth (financed first forty years of TV and last 15 years of Internet content)

- Blip.tv and YouTube define a stable market

- Reliable high quality programs...

Cons

- High value advertising demands high value programming (production). Costs a lot up front - higher costs to return

- Content can be unreliable, too hot to handle, or simply unappealing to advertisers. Short films, docs, r-rated or controversial content can't get high value CPM.

- Advertisers can't depend on a certain number of viewers

- Random advertising can damage brand while paying little to nothing

- Must have very, very large audience

- Can put a plane crash next to an ad for Delta or something to this effect

So the question is, will people pay for video online? They talked about how a lot of people are already doing just that through services like iTunes, which the pair say "changed the marketplace."

When deciding whether you want to ask people to pay for your content, you should ask yourself the following questions, according to Millis and Cohlan:

- What content do you pay for now?

- Have you ever quit halfway through a payment or subscription process arrangement?

- How often do you click away because of pre-roll ads?

- Are you willing to download software?

"Asking your audience to pay for your content is about eliminating these 'why bother' factors," they say.

Then ask yourself:

- How do you want to sell your content?

- Does it need to happen now or are you willing to wait for  approval?

- How much do you need to charge, and how soon do you need to get paid?

- How much info do you want to ask your viewers for?

- How technically savvy are you?

- How important is image quality?

- Do you want your viewers to go to your site to watch or somewhere else?

- Do you want to be able to embed your video?

- Do you want to allow your viewers to share?

- What kind of content do you have - serial, one off, short format, feature length?

- How much publicity do you want/need?

"Ask these questions before you commit to a solution," they say.

One option is what they refer to as the Ze Frank model. This is a show that used drop.io to package shows that are otherwise free, and sell them together, so viewers can take them and easily watch them on their iPods.

Another option is to work with a partner like re:frame or NewVideo, which will work with you on getting stuff into iTunes or Hulu.

Then there are sites like MyContent.com and IndieFlix. With MyContent.com, you get choices like free streaming, rental streaming, and selling through the site as a paid download. They are your partner, and they only pay you after costs are covered. They have a revenue share deal. MyContent.com will take 35% after costs, and they charge a small monthly processing fee, according to the Dynamo guys.

With Indieflix, you can upload content through them, and sell it as a DVD or make it available as a paid stream, but they're fairly selective about their content.

Another option they discussed was Amazon's Create Space. Advantages of this, they say, are that Amazon's a leader in cloud computing - they can store and serve content more efficiently, and at a lower cost, they are a well-recognized brand, and they're connected to a lot of TVs and living rooms. They'll list films on IMDB for you, and stream stuff to the XBox. However, they take 50% of royalties, and you can only suggest a price for your video.

Then there are YouTube rentals, a system Google introduced not too long ago, at Sundance. They let content creators set the price and viewing window, and they have the obvious huge advantage of social media for promotion. It doesn't hurt that YouTube is also the second largest search engine, behind Google itself.

YouTube lets you use Google Checkout, which is easy enough, and content streams quickly. You need to use an AdSense account, and as you may know, Google is not up front about how much revenue sharing they do, although it's supposed to be "the majority".

You can read about Dynamo's own option here.

Nexus One Price, Plan Details Leak

A couple of the mysteries surrounding the forthcoming Nexus One/Google phone may have been solved.  Information related to the price of the phone and its plan has leaked, and assuming the details are accurate, the device should line up pretty well with the existing marketplace.

Here's the bad news: rumors that Google would offer a cheap or free phone weren't confirmed.  The standard monthly fee doesn't look like it will be trivial, either, meaning the Nexus One may not be as revolutionary as many people expected.

Instead, according to Jason Chen, consumers will be asked to pay $179.99 for the Nexus One if they lock into a two-year contract with T-Mobile for $79.99 per month.  Or they can choose their own service provider, but they'll have to fork over $529.99 for an unlocked phone.

Still, these prices aren't so high that ordinary people wouldn't be able to get their hands on the Nexus One.  Indeed, the T-Mobile prices should make the Nexus One competitive with the iPhone, so if the hardware measures up, Apple may find itself with a serious rival.

Hopefully we'll get firm numbers and a much more solid idea of the Nexus One's capabilities on Tuesday at the Android press gathering.

Have You Read This?

> Google Phone Excitement Builds Ahead Of Jan. 5 Event

> November Showed Significant Growth For Android

> Android Crowds iPhone In New comScore Report

Bonanzle Surpasses Milestone User Number

eBay competitor Bonanzle recently told us the company was approaching several milestones, one of these being welcoming its 100,000th registered user. The company announced today that they have surpassed that one. In fact, they did it earlier this week on September 14, just barely a year after the site launched.

Just as with eBay, Bonanzle's users appear quite passionate in their opinions about the site, whether that be for better for worse. When we last covered the site, the comments poured in ranging from incredibly supportive to downright nasty. No matter which way you feel about it, you can't deny the site is having an impact in the world of online selling, and that impact is on the rise. It's got a ways to go before it reaches eBay-status, but the numbers are consistently climbing.

Bonanzle maintains that unlike other marketplaces, its traffic growth of over 5,000% since launch has been attained through a completely grassroots effort. The company has not received any venture capital or angel funding. An average of 10,000 members join the site every month, according to the company.

"I attribute our rapid growth to buyers and sellers having an unmet need for a marketplace where individual people matter, and where the selling fees don't drag down businesses," says Bill Harding, Bonanzle's founder and CEO. "We will continue to add features to make it easier for our buyers to find everything but the ordinary, and we'll throw in a good amount of fun while we're at it."

Bonanzle is currently developing an API, which should be out by the end of the month. This will allow third party developers to create tools, which could further fuel Bonanzle's growth. The company also recently launched an affiliate program called the "Syndicated Seller" program.

UPS Launches Online Printing Service

UPS announced today it is launching an online printing service aimed at small businesses.

"After reviewing the research and listening to our small-business customers, we realized there is a real need in the marketplace for an online printing platform that is easy to use, provides functionality geared to small businesses, and is supported by a convenient network of physical locations," said Stuart Mathis, president of Mail Boxes Etc., Inc. (MBE), franchisor of The UPS Store brand.

Users can access the service by logging onto The UPS Store website. They will be able to upload new documents or multiple documents, select printing options such as paper and binding and choose a location for pickup as well as a date and time for completion.

Click To View Demo

On the initial use, the first-time customer creates a profile to setup a secure workplace and virtual filing cabinet for future reprints. Each job is given a number for tracking the entire process. Payment is taken online, making pickup at the center quicker.

According to research firm InfoTrends, the growing interest in online print is changing the relationship between print buyers and print service providers.

"Online print is a trend that will only continue to expand," said Barb Pellow, group director at InfoTrends.

"Last year, print jobs that moved through the Internet made up 14 percent of the total U.S. printing market, and we project online printing will grow at an average rate of 24 percent per year from 2008 to 2011."

 

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