Video University: Video University Forums: Marketing & Business: Special Interest Videos

VideoUniversity.com
Home	Free Library	Store
Free Catalog Please support VU by making your B&H purchases and links through this B&H ad. Doesn't cost a penny more.

See The New VU Postcard Catalog

To post in the forums see the Forum Guidelines.

Join or Renew Today.
New Benefits for all VU Members

Forum Guidelines and FAQ
Main Index	Search Posts
Who's Online	Log In

Home: Video University Forums: Marketing & Business:
Special Interest Videos

X-Jim_Miller
Imported Account

Jun 5, 2001, 6:42 PM

Post #1 of 7 (1018 views)
Shortcut

Special Interest Videos	Can't Post

Does anyone out there have experience in producing and/or marketing Special Interest Videos? Does anyone have direct knowledge of someone who has actually made a decent profit from them? Can anyone recommed a good video on the subject other than the Adita Video and Quality Plus videos I already have? What about a book on the subject? (Other than the manuals you can get from Hal along with the Adita Video) Producing the videos is not the problem, it's marketing them. Any feedback, greatly appreciated.
Jim Miller

X-John_Devany
Imported Account

Jun 6, 2001, 9:10 AM

Post #2 of 7 (1017 views)
Shortcut

Re: Special Interest Videos	Can't Post

Check out elitevideo just add the dot com.
They also have a SIV video and book set available.
Best of Success
John
---------------------------------------------------------------
: Does anyone out there have experience in producing and/or marketing Special Interest Videos? Does anyone have direct knowledge of someone who has actually made a decent profit from them? Can anyone recommed a good video on the subject other than the Adita Video and Quality Plus videos I already have? What about a book on the subject? (Other than the manuals you can get from Hal along with the Adita Video) Producing the videos is not the problem, it's marketing them. Any feedback, greatly appreciated.
: Jim Miller

X-Steve_S
Imported Account

Jun 7, 2001, 12:14 PM

Post #3 of 7 (1017 views)
Shortcut

Re: Special Interest Videos [In reply to]	Can't Post

>>Does anyone have direct knowledge of someone who has actually made a decent profit from them?
I will be interested to see if anyone can answer this question. I suspect the percentage of people who make a profit is low, and the percentage who end up with a basement full of tapes is high. Ultimately the way to make money is to teach *other people* how to make them, which then gets very close to being a scam.
Steve S.

X-Hal
Imported Account

Jun 7, 2001, 5:24 PM

Post #4 of 7 (1017 views)
Shortcut

People DO make profitable Special Interest Videos [In reply to]	Can't Post

Jim,
It so happens I'm writing a book on the subject. To see some
prfitable SIVs check out these web sites and read about the
producers:
http://www.aquariusproductions.com/
http://www.gatevideo.com
In my book I interviewed Fred Levine who produced "Road Construction Ahead"
which is a 30 minute video for kids from 2 to 8 years old.
To date his video has sold some 400,000 copies.
This is from Amazon.com's list of the best-selling
Special Interest Videos:
1. Grammar Rock Saturday-morning shorts-designed to make copy editors and writers out
of school kids
2. Let's Play Basketball
3. Multiplication Rock
4. Cal Pozo's Learn to Dance in Minutes - V. 3 - The Latin Dances
5. Cal Pozo's Learn to Dance in Minutes: Salsa Merengue
6. Once Upon a Potty for Him (I wonder why guys lead in this category?)
7. Once Upon a Potty for Her
There are lots of other "instructional" videos in the Amazon list.
And you can bet that most of these are profitable.
The bottom line is that producing Special Interest Videos
is a business. Like all businesses some 80% will fail. My book
details the industry in greater detail.
I've produced SIVs myself and some have made a profit. Others have
not. Topics range from Sculpting, How to present an oral argument
(for a law publisher), Blacksmithing, Sailing and so on. None of
them are about how to produce a special interest video.
Many video producers think about producing videos about
video productionbut this is a tough market because the technology
changes all the time. But some people profit in this market
nonetheless. Look at the Total Training Videos in our online store.
I'll let you know when my book is available.
Best,
Hal

X-Hal_
Imported Account

Jun 7, 2001, 5:32 PM

Post #5 of 7 (1017 views)
Shortcut

Not all of them own any video gear+ [In reply to]	Can't Post

I forget to mention that many producers produce profitable
SI videos without owning any gear...
Hal

X-Steve_S
Imported Account

Jun 13, 2001, 11:58 AM

Post #6 of 7 (1017 views)
Shortcut

Re: People DO make profitable Special Interest Videos [In reply to]	Can't Post

Okay, Hal, you're in a better position to know than I am. It's just been my impression most how-to's end up in the basement.
What's your opinion about point-of-purchase videos? My own totally unscientific study--which consists of trying to catch *anyone* watching one in a store or other public place--has yielded a result of zero. Other than myself, I've never seen anyone watch a point-of-purchase video in a store (by watch, I mean, more than just glance at it as they walk by). I've been making a point to watch for about 4 years now, since I first posted on a newsgroup about this. And yet the producers probably charged in the thousands or even 10's of thousands for these videos. I am reluctant to sell them to anyone because I'm convinced they simply don't work. Your thoughts?
Steve S.

: Jim,
: It so happens I'm writing a book on the subject. To see some
: prfitable SIVs check out these web sites and read about the
: producers:
: http://www.aquariusproductions.com/
: http://www.gatevideo.com
: In my book I interviewed Fred Levine who produced "Road Construction Ahead"
: which is a 30 minute video for kids from 2 to 8 years old.
: To date his video has sold some 400,000 copies.
: This is from Amazon.com's list of the best-selling
: Special Interest Videos:
: 1. Grammar Rock Saturday-morning shorts-designed to make copy editors and writers out
: of school kids
: 2. Let's Play Basketball
: 3. Multiplication Rock
: 4. Cal Pozo's Learn to Dance in Minutes - V. 3 - The Latin Dances
: 5. Cal Pozo's Learn to Dance in Minutes: Salsa Merengue
: 6. Once Upon a Potty for Him (I wonder why guys lead in this category?)
: 7. Once Upon a Potty for Her
: There are lots of other "instructional" videos in the Amazon list.
: And you can bet that most of these are profitable.
: The bottom line is that producing Special Interest Videos
: is a business. Like all businesses some 80% will fail. My book
: details the industry in greater detail.
: I've produced SIVs myself and some have made a profit. Others have
: not. Topics range from Sculpting, How to present an oral argument
: (for a law publisher), Blacksmithing, Sailing and so on. None of
: them are about how to produce a special interest video.
: Many video producers think about producing videos about
: video productionbut this is a tough market because the technology
: changes all the time. But some people profit in this market
: nonetheless. Look at the Total Training Videos in our online store.
: I'll let you know when my book is available.
: Best,
: Hal

:
:

X-Barb_Besteni
Imported Account

Jul 2, 2001, 8:24 AM

Post #7 of 7 (1017 views)
Shortcut

Re: Special Interest Videos [In reply to]	Can't Post

: Does anyone out there have experience in producing and/or marketing Special Interest Videos? Does anyone have direct knowledge of someone who has actually made a decent profit from them? Can anyone recommed a good video on the subject other than the Adita Video and Quality Plus videos I already have? What about a book on the subject? (Other than the manuals you can get from Hal along with the Adita Video) Producing the videos is not the problem, it's marketing them. Any feedback, greatly appreciated.
: Jim Miller
Jim:
I've been making a living exclusively from SIV production and marketing for over 13 years.
The key to success in SIV is treating it as a business. Unfortunately, most people who enter the SIV arena think it's going to make them rich overnight.
As a result, they don't do the work required to be successful.
SIV is NOT a get rich quick scheme. In fact, you won't see a lot of profit unless you produce a series of videos and market them to a specific niche market.
Another highly profitable aspect of the SIV business is to produce a video and sell the rights to other companies and individuals to repackage it under their own company name.
Finally, don't just produce a video, produce a package that includes a video, manual, audio program, etc. You can then sell that package at a higher price than you could sell a single video.
Hope this helps.
Warmest Regards,
Barb
--
Barbara A. Besteni, Publisher
The Special Interest Video Letter