We worked hard to deliver a Pay-Per-View program that added a great deal of value to our viewers, but we wanted to further extend what we could offer people in need of this kind of content AND further increase revenue.

I just got a peek at the results of one of my favorite tips for increasing the revenue brought about by any Live Streaming Video production; that is, by creating an “available-for-sale” DVD.

By working with our DVD/CD manufacturing partner (Acutrack), Stronger Families took their Pay-Per-View episodes and packaged them into this retail-quality DVD seen on the right.

For the first four episodes we produced, they plan to create two DVDs—each with two episodes.

Doesn’t this look great?!?!  They did a wonderful job putting everything together and have successfully created THREE revenue streams from the Stronger Families LIVE pay-per-view production:

1. Live Pay-Per-View
2. Post show Video-On-Demand
3. DVD

Who is Buying?

What’s interesting about the DVD is an analysis of who is buying.  As expected, people who attended the live event and wanted to preserve what they learned for further reference have purchased a DVD.  But two other groups have been added to that first group of buyers:

1. Live Pay-Per-View customers who attended
2. Live Pay-Per-View customers who were unable to attend the live show
3. People who missed the live event but still wanted the content

What’s great about this is that the investment in the live event will be paying dividends to Stronger Families for years.  

Total Income Streams

If you add up all the income streams from this production, you’ll get a total of FIVE:

1. Live Pay-Per-View
2. Post-show Video-On-Demand (Non-PPV Signups)
   [PPV Signups were allowed free access to the Video-On-Demand)
3. DVD
• PPV Attendees
• PPV Signup, Unable to Attend
• Non-PPV Signups

By adding a video-on-demand and DVD option, Stronger Families has tripled their income options for Stronger Families LIVE.  Pretty nifty.

You Can Do the Same!

The key to increasing your revenue OR marketing value is to ensure you are recording your live streaming video production in such a manner as to allow for the reuse as either a high-quality video-on-demand offering or a DVD.  This means that recording your live event as a FLASH video is not good enough.  Be sure to record in a non-Flash format that is capable of being eventually rendered in a quality suitable for DVD.

As you can tell, I’m excited about all this.  How about you?  Are you considering producing a live streaming video production and adding a DVD component to the overall offering?  Have you already done so?  Let me know. . .I’d love to shine a flashlight on others with similar success (or concerns).

Many times during the day, I’ll catch somebody visiting the Living in Las Vegas Podcast website via a Google search for “Las Vegas Podcast”.  From time to time, I’ll check out that person’s Google search to see how we’re ranking. . .and what other sites are being listed.

As I was checking out our ranking on Google this morning, I saw something fascinating. . .and VERY promising.  Along with searching the web for “las vegas podcast”, Google also initiated on its own a video search for “las vegas podcast” as well.  As the screen shot shows, Google found our latest video podcast episode, which is self-hosted.

This is huge.

I’ve experienced Google’s YouTube fixation.  I have other search engine phrases that I’ve previously been ranked #1, only to slip down a spot or two because a YouTube video uses the same keywords.  What I didn’t expect is that Google would be able to (or want to, for that matter) index a self-hosted .MP4 video.

When I clicked on the “Video results for las vegas podcast” link, I was further impressed.

For a select few videos, Google allows you to Watch Video Here. . .clicking it brings up the video on the right side of the search results, ready for play [see the graphic below].  Google also searches for other related videos and displays them as thumbnail graphics below the video being played.  In our case, if found related videos on YouTube, LivingInLV.com, Ustream.TV and MeFeedia.com. [As seen below.]

Again, very impressive.

My guess is that the reason we’re seeing this happen is because our self-hosted videos are MP4 videos.  We’re also using the jwplayer Flash player, which seems to be helpful as well.  Regardless, this is GREAT NEWS!  The fact Google is indexing this content demonstrates that when done correctly, embedded video does provide more content for Google to index.

What does that mean to you?  Well, it doesn’t mean you should ignore YouTube.  Google has much love for YouTube.  But it DOES mean you should recognize that embedded video increases your probability of being discovered via Google.

Here’s the description of the presentation:

For many, the concept of developing an effective online marketing strategy is intimidating. As a result, we find companies unintentionally distancing themselves from their customers and prospects instead of bringing the two groups closer together. Fortunately, there are a number of online marketing techniques that will introduce the real value of your company to your prospects and customers, motivating these important people towards a new (or additional) working relationship with your organization.

This presentation offers those techniques.

Come to this session ready to look at your existing marketing efforts in a new, fresh way. We will share proven marketing techniques that take advantage of:

· Your Website

· Search Engines

· Email Marketing

· Social Networks

· Blogs

· Podcasts

You will learn new methods to reach out and grab additional business. Be prepared to take notes!

This is a very well received presentation as it delivers tips that can be immediately implemented.

If you’re a Las Vegas local, and you’re responsible for the effectiveness of your website, come take a listen.

This is true for the arts (music, acting).  And this is true for your Live Streaming Video Production (LSVP).

As part of my weekly efforts, I take the time to check out other LSVPs.  In doing so, an interesting trend has emerged.  Of the last three shows I’ve watch, ALL OF THEM had a problem with the start of the show — video didn’t appear correctly, the sound wasn’t on, graphics didn’t work as expected, graphics didn’t match on-air content, etc.  And in all three cases, the host feverishly tried to fix the problem while apologizing to the audience.

There is no question that your first impression sets the table for the professionalism of your show.  My guess is that had each of these hosts rehearsed their opening 20 times, mapping out exactly what buttons needed to be pushed and what comes next, these problems would not have happened.

Buuuuuut, practicing is a bore. 

Trust me when I say, the panic associated with a failed opening of your LSVP will make you wish you lived through a bunch of boring rehearsals.  I get a little nervous before each live show we do, and we practice, practice, practice.  I can’t imagine how crappy/scared I’d feel if I tried to start a live show “cold”.

So, get bored.  Practice your butt off.  Get your muscle-memory honed for that opening.  And allow yourself to focus on what matters the most: entertaining or educating your viewers.

I can’t say much more about it now.  BUT, I can say it’ll provide those who follow this blog a nice example of what a professional-level, easy-to-consume Web TV program looks like.

Stay tuned! 

We know that 2009 has been a rough one for many folks.  We were both fortunate to have steady employment throughout the year.  For those in more difficult times, we’re putting out warm thoughts on your behalf.  I sense that 2010 will be an exciting and recuperative year for many folks in need of such relief.  If you fit into that category, be prepared for a great year!

Finally, thanks for contributing to PodWorx’s success.  I started the company on August 1st, 2006 and we’ve never looked back.  I’ve worked with some wonderful people, created some fun content, and have enjoyed every bit of it.  For that, I am grateful.

Happy New Year, Everybody!  Have FUN and be SAFE!

A little background: Dave is a big-time news anchor here in Las Vegas and a voice over actor.  In his role as a VO actor, he blogged about this cool idea.  A bunch of VO actors have submitted a demo of what their version of the ABC World News intro would sound like, now that Diane Sawyer has taken over as anchor.

Although I’m not a voice over guy by trade, I’ve done some VO work in a past life.  And after listening to a bunch of entries, I thought it would be fun to do a demo myself.

Here’s a list (with MP3 links) of all the voice over entries.

Below is what I came up with.

ABC World News with Diane Sawyer Sample

From time to time (like as I type this), we’ll fire up the live camera so you can get an over-the-shoulder look into what’s happening in the PodWorx studios here in Las Vegas.

You might see me conducting a pre-interview with a upcoming guest.  Or be able to watch a podcast being recorded live.  Or see some post-production work being performed.  Or prepping to release a new customer podcast episode.  Regardless, you’ll see a working studio in action!

Here’s the link: http://www.podworx.com/about-podworx/podworx-live-studio-cam/

Last week was very exciting for PodWorx.  While we’ve been doing Live Streaming Video productions for awhile now, at 6:30PM Pacific last Wednesday, we produced our first pay-per-view event!

The show (which is ongoing. . .we have another broadcast coming up on Thursday) is called Stronger Families LIVE with Jeff Kemp. It’s hosted by the ex-NFL quarterback and features an interview with an expert in family matters, followed by a live question and answer session between our guest and the live audience.

I’m happy to report that the show was a big success.  Stronger Families saw revenue well in excess of $1K $3k and the feedback we’ve received has been outstanding.  Here’s five reasons why I think we were successful:

1. Marketing

One of the most challenging aspects of Stronger Families LIVE (SFL) was attracting great guests to a live streaming video production that was completely unproven.  We knew it would be a great show.  We needed to help others discover that fact.

Stronger Families the organization had never done anything like this before.  So, to establish credibility where there was none to demonstrate, our first step was to write a Joint Venture Proposal that resonated with these potential partners.

We covered many things in the proposal, to be sure.  We were especially interested in explaining the problems we were going to solve using this form of broadcasting and the benefits to the partner.  In our research, we knew that extending a partner’s brand awareness, providing access to an untapped audience, participation in this new broadcasting method, adding additional revenue to their bottom line and no need to travel would be interesting.

To date, 100% of the people we’ve approached have accepted our offer.

Besides a strong JV Proposal, we needed to craft an Effective Sales Page that would help potential audience members discover how SFL could assist those seeking help with their marriage.

The sales page featured a natural, unscripted video by Jeff Kemp and was followed by a sales letter written from Jeff’s perspective.  It described the problems folks may be having in their marriage, what they’ve likely tried to do to make things better, and ended with our solution.  Towards the bottom of the page, we made it very easy (AND OBVIOUS) how to sign up for the show.

2. More Marketing

Having a great sales page is one thing, but if nobody shows up, what good is it?  To drive traffic, we relied on several online marketing techniques, but our biggest push came via E-Mail Marketing.

We crafted a series of emails that were sent out at specific intervals to introduce people to SFL.  Our goal for the email was not to explain how great SFL would be.  Instead, our goal was to create curiosity.  From a sales perspective, a curious prospect will engage, a non-curious prospective will not.  So, the tenor of our email was quick credibility establishment + curiosity creation.

Stronger Families also did a GREAT job in highlighting SFL on their Home Page.  They created two different areas that feature graphics meant to drive visitors to their sales page.

They also created a series of web banners and flyers for their partners to use as additional sales/marketing content.

3. Preparation

After bringing together all the audio and visual content needed for the show, we practiced, practiced, practiced.

This was a bit of a challenge because Jeff was not able to rehearse AT ALL until the day of the shoot.  Nonetheless, we used stand-ins for both Jeff and our first Skype-based guest and rehearsed our opening, guest introduction, question and answer session, and show close.  We spent hours ensuring we knew our cues, sound levels, camera angles, and chat participation methodology to ensure that when Jeff (and Stronger Families biz dev manager Noel Meador) arrived in Las Vegas, we were going to be able to focus our attention on coaching Jeff and Noel (Noel was our conduit between the chat room audience and Jeff).  They were VERY IMPRESSED with the level of professionalism we displayed. . .this was no accident.

4. High-Quality Production

Starting with the two customized destination webpages we developed for SFL (one for individual audience members, one for group access), the design was clean, with no distractions that are found on your typical live streaming video environment (Ustream, Livestream, etc.)  The design featured just three things:

1. SFL Branding

2. Live Streaming Video Window

3. Chat Window

The design allowed the audience to see the live video and their chat room on one screen.  There was ZERO advertising, ZERO popups, ZERO distractions.

Equally important, the quality of the streaming video was outstanding.  We use a robust Content Delivery Network that has over 20+ points of presence in two continents.  The lag time between live and stream was about 3 seconds.  The video clarity was great, as was the sound.  As you can see from the video above, it looked great.  When our special guest was introduced, we used directorial techniques found in broadcast television (transitions, two-shots, lower thirds, etc.).

5. Audience Engagement

To be honest, this is always a concern.  I’ve done live streaming video productions where audience participation has been very high and almost non-existent.  The good news is, for SFL, we were overwhelmed by questions from the audience!

This, in large part, was due to several factors:

1. GREAT CONTENT: Jeff and our special guest did a great job in delivering content that people wanted to engage with.

2. PROMOTION: We made it clear in our advertising that one of the big benefits to attending SFL was to have the opportunity to ask questions.  This is an opportunity that is usually not available to the guests we booked.

3. REMINDER: I had set up a reminder prompt within the chat room to periodically send a global message in the chat room on how to ask a question.

4. PARTICIPATION: Noel, from Stronger Families, was an active participant in the chat room, acknowledging questions, interacting with those in the chat, and providing direction.

A final thought – another big bonus to our audience—one that we highlighted in our sales copy—was that they didn’t need to attend the live show to benefit from its content.  A video-on-demand version of all Stronger Families LIVE episodes are being made available soon after each show is completed.  We believe this was a strong motivator as well.

Have you thought about developing a live streaming video production?  If so, I hope these tips are helpful to you, regardless of whether it’s a pay-per-view or no-cost production.  I’d be interested in hearing what others have done to create a successful show as well.  Let me know!

The question?

Why would you encourage business owners to
incorporate podcasts and videos into their marketing strategies?

My answer had less to do with podcasting and video specifically and more about the problem all websites have created.  For me, rolling out a podcast/live streaming video production isn’t about how cool either of those things are. It’s about whether you recognize the problems traditional websites have created and if you are interested in solving those very same problems.

Here’s what I said in the interview.  I welcome any comments!

First, I don’t think podcasting and live streaming video is a fit for every company [emphasis added].  I think a certain type of embedded video is a fit across the board, if done correctly.

That said, when considering your online marketing strategy, you first need to take a hard look at your website.  Truth is, the websites of today aren’t performing any better than the websites of the mid-nineties.  The reason is because we’re still creating what amounts to a bunch of electronic brochures…and nobody cares about our electronic brochures.   And the numbers bear this out.  The average amount of time somebody spends on a website is one minute, and half those people only last eight seconds. Unless you have a story that can be told in eight seconds, you have to figure out how to keep people engaged longer so you can speak to the problems you can solve, and separate yourself from the competitive herd.

As we say on our website, what’s really needed to increase the connection between you and your prospects is to stop producing yet another bit of written marketing collateral, and try something better–and much more impactful. You can turn the day-to-day efforts of your company into an ongoing story that gives your listeners a real sense of who you are, what you do, and how you are solving the problems facing your customers and prospects.   That’s why our customers podcast.

Video, regardless of whether it’s live streaming video or on-demand, when done correctly, solves a major challenge most websites unintentionally create when it comes to a company’s perceived approachability.   Remember, with a website, I never have to speak to a human.  If you recognize that your employees are among your most valuable assets, not providing a window into these important people is bad business.  Our customers use live streaming and on-demand video to improve their approachability in the eyes of their prospects and customers, thus shortening the sales cycle.