Succeeding in Independent Online Media

February 7, 2008 · Comments

Last year around this time, we all thought for sure that independent video makers were all just months away from making it. Someone would be first, and then the rest of us would roll along behind in this massive zeitgeist and we’d all be making $200,000 a year or something making videos. (Maybe we “all” didn’t think that. I thought it, and so did a bunch of folks I’d talk with at events.)

This year, I get into conversations all the time, usually in email, and often in desperation, about how people might make it in the independent media creation market. I believe that people will make it. Not all of us. Not nearly as many as I would’ve said at this time in 2007.

So who will succeed faster? People finding targeted projects that are immediately obvious in their fundability and their value proposition to advertisers.

Am I saying this is the best way, that this is the way it should be, that this is a great and amazing thing? Not a lick. What I am saying is that the road between not making it and making it big is a little shorter for people who have the triangle figured out: content-value to advertisers-appeal to audience.

Even then, it’s not always a slam dunk, but I think that’s probably the way it will happen for folks first.

Some of my bets for people who will get there sooner than later:

If you’re not on this list, it’s not that I don’t think you’ll make it. I might have even forgotten that you’re also a candidate for getting there. Don’t focus on that part of the message.

The message is this: if you ask me about who’s going to make it in online media, it’s people who are figuring out the triangle, delivering something of quality, and are connecting targeted content to interested audiences.

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  • Very few succeed. The one's that do bring distinct personal brands to the table.
  • What about individuals that are producing pieces and perhaps making undisclosed big bucks?

    - Scoble with his Davos QIK coverage
    - iJustine and her collection of viral vids to include her coverage of MacWorld

    There are more, I know...
  • The more we spend time in this whole sphere, and the more we interact with the people who have the money, the more it's clear that no one has a clear path to making money (and I mean money on the scale of millions of dollars) unless you team up with entrenched media. And even then, good luck trying to convince them of the value of truly interactive media. They are mostly looking for things that look like TV, and then if you have that, they want to own everything

    The smart new media companies and VC's are not going to dole out millions to just anything anymore. Everyone is tightening their belts.

    I think it goes back to the core concepts of creating any small business. Identify your audience; create reliable, quality content; be active in business social circles (conferences, etc); repeat as necessary.

    And don't be afraid to change what you're doing. EPIC-FU was JETSET for over a year. We changed the name and the branding approach, and our views more than doubled since then.

    The people we know who approach this stuff with calculated fearlessness (sounds weird, I know), are the ones making it happen. The people who hesitate for even just a moment seem to stagnate forever.

    And btw, thanks for including us on your list, Chris! We pretty much hold our breath day to day looking for the best opportunities to grow our show and our tiny little production company. But the opportunities are definitely out there!
  • LB3- I think Justine and Scoble and others are doing a great job of finding content where it exists, and bringing it to the rest of us. They are hustling out there all the time, seeing the good stuff, and evangelizing it. The folks making that stuff work for them are more brands in their own right, and they're using video as a powerful medium. That works great for some.

    If you ask me my super secret bet, the money's on people like them, Steve Garfield, and others who are roving studios.

    Steve- you know the love's there. You guys are working it hard and doing a killer job. Every episode is something new, something better. So keep driving that forward.
  • Trying to break into a new market like Internet television is tough, mostly because nobody else has come up with a proven model for success yet. There is no real model to follow at all, so everyone who wants to be in it is out there messing around with it in the off hours from their real job/life and trying to figure out how to get the most bang for the buck.

    Coming from traditional broadcast television, I am learning that even on the web, creating good quality, watchable shows can be expensive and time consuming. That may be part of the reason the content is so slow to get up there.

    Maybe it's about shaking up the model of conventional TV a bit..finding some clever ways to build your audience without having to sell the farm to get the darn thing on the air.

    I think the bottom line is, it's about having a good idea for a show in the first place, then getting out there and just 'pressing record' as you say, Chris. Otherwise it's just a bunch of us sitting around on our duffs waiting for someone else to do it first.

    I for one intend to make it on your list, Chris...and soon. Stay tuned!
  • World Health News is making a major effort at this with the launch of a network of health related shows. They are placing the shows on their portals like www.yourcancertoday.com but also seeking international distribution on cable and satellite. They may well be the next big success.
  • Yes, I do plan on getting there soon. Gardenfork.tv and RealWorldGreen.com are very targeted shows, - I didn't plan it that way, its just this is the kind of shows i like to create - and there is interest from the $ people.

    The proof of concept of niche programming for me is the emails i get from viewers and the growing number of participants at our community site, The Greenhouse ( http://thegreenhouse.gardenfork.tv ) inspired by Steve and Zadi of EPIC-FU .
  • I wouldn't miss a day of listening to Bigg Success - I agree they are winners!
  • While I agree with the overall point that yes, there is an evolutionary development in online media (i.e. the explosion of new content sites coming), from my own personal experience marketing on "conversational properties" - what I think this piece misses is a discussion of performance. I've deployed a range of media/creative tactics from standard banners to highly customized UGC initiatives, but found that just because a medium is new (or more likely evolutionary) doesn't mean readers are any more likely to respond to marketing on CM sites than they are checking their Yahoo email.
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