More Innovative Approaches
Ted Coltman, Executive Director, New Media at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting takes this discussion to another level when he says: "People are being led astray by the business model of advertising. When people become frustrated about not being able to figure out how to make money on the Internet, they fall back onto display advertising and formats that are well-suited to display advertising like TV."

As I discussed in a different way last month, video on the Internet is not TV. The inherent bandwidth limitations make it a different medium. Immersive experiences like films and long-form videos will continue to be served better by TV and VHS distribution channels.

However, I believe that major new online business opportunities requiring the expertise of professional videographers are already emerging. For example, video enhanced dating services or real estate listings can offer low-resolution pictures that provide value with "decision quality" compressed footage. And this is true even if the "decision" is to order a higher resolution version of one particular prospective date or property. Likewise, video resumes and demo reels are already working, as are movie trailers and TV promos. In fact, I see this as an important opportunity for the movie and entertainment industries to provide on-demand "taster" or video samples that can lead to purchase, rental or viewing choices for movie tickets, VHS tapes and so forth.

Online entrepreneurs are also looking for pay-per-view or subscription opportunities, and I think there are opportunities here as well. Given that there's so much free content on the Web, in order for paid subscriptions to make sense you need an avid audience. Putting pornography aside, I don't know a more passionate audience than sports fans, nor do I know a more inefficient news design (from the consumer's point of view) than the sports reports on TV. First of all, even on ESPN, you have to wait through a half-hour show to see your team, and secondly, the "reward" for your wait is only a few highlights. Why shouldn't a home town fan be able to get a more substantial, albeit lower resolution report on-demand, when ever they want it? There is no real reason except that the production and financial infrastructure hasn't been built yet. And, of course, this on-demand, online report can also include still images and audio reports as well as video. And, speaking of still images, why should you be limited to the one or two pictures that your newspaper picks when you could be browsing thumbnails of dozens? But, I digress.

Another intriguing subscription opportunity is being presented by the "push" technologies like Pointcast that are emerging on the Web and which enable users to "program" downloads during computer downtime on an automated basis. Because it's relatively easy to program your computer to download a file, (currently being used to accelerate the "world wide wait"), some special interest video clips can also be offered on a subscription basis and downloaded during the night. Although this approach lacks the on-demand immediacy of video streaming (see last months Video Web column), the clips would be higher quality and available on-demand over the morning coffee or when you get home.

Six Immediate Benefits
Well, that's enough crystal ball gazing. Let's look more closely at today's realities. While I don't think that today's Web is a get rich quick environment for video producers, I do believe that it offers important marketing opportunities as well as production leverage that should not be ignored. Here are six important bottom line benefits that I believe provide compelling reasons for video pros to get involved online.

1. The ability to reach a global audience is a small video producer's dream and an unprecedented marketing opportunity. The key here is make your site more than an online brochure. Rather, I recommend that you design your site to build relationships by delivering valuable content upfront, for free, starting from day one. That's the way marketing works in the '90's. They call it "relationship marketing." What you put out will come back in the form of "ancillary sales."
2. Some people say -- and they say it with a smile -- that the only people making money on the Web today are either building web sites or teaching people to build web sites. There's some truth in that. As creative professionals, video producers are uniquely qualified to offer Web education, consulting, design and production services. Given the demand, I recommend that video people diversify. You already understand visual communications and I certainly couldn't say that about most of the HTML programmers that I've met.
3. The web offers new channels for distribution. For example, check out the Alternative Entertainment Network which offers 11 "channels" of online video including everything from comedy and sports to infomercials. Video producer Drew Cummings of Cummings Multimedia Entertainment has leveraged his content library and video resources into a very dynamic web site which is certainly showing promise and also apparently providing a vehicle for some very valuable trades.
4. For those of you in the entertainment promotion business, there's no question that the web offers important new avenues for marketing and promotion including movie trailers, online versions of on-air promos, home video trailers and more. I used to be director of creative services at USA Network, and it seems clear to me that "on-net promotion" of TV shows is a production niche that's beginning to explode.
5. As FOOTAGE.net demonstrates, the web is full of new resources for stock footage, personnel, clip art, demo reels, and especially content research (from technical information to product literature to background information on virtually any subject). If you're not putting the truly immense research resources of the Web at your finger tips, believe me your competitors have something to offer your customers that you should also have. The same goes for offering an e-mail connection to your customers. While it's true that some clients don't use e-mail, the ones who do are not satisfied unless you're wired.
6. The web also offers all kinds of new ways to collaborate. From Frank Sinatra's original long-distance recording sessions for "Duets" to film-makers who screen LA dailies in real time in San Francisco to Videography's story "R/Greenberg Flips for Internet Collaboration" (December issue) to my posting of video graphics as JPEG files on the web for long-distance client approval -- the network of networks is quickly becoming an essential production component.

So the bottom line is that "you've got to be in it to win it." But remember that the Web is a long term "play," not a sure fire, over-night sensation. While we can continue to count on creative entrepreneurs to develop the compelling applications that offer impressive high-risk, high-return potential, we can also see that our digital production environments are quickly evolving to include the network. This reality makes investing in the web more like investing in a marketing campaign, a new video deck or a better phone system than it is like investing in a new "miracle" cash cow. Like it or not, the Video Web is an increasingly important part of the future of video communications, so if you're not already looking to benefit from its potential (and to learn from your mistakes along the way), I believe that you're missing an opportunity to earn an important strategic advantage (while you also generate at least a little cash).

Until next month, let's keep the "wonder" in the Web while we help it to fulfill the promise of a new media frontier that's being built from the ground up.

Surf's up. Enjoy.

Part 2 of 2
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