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So you've just shot a video and you're certain it will go viral. Assuming you are correct in assessing your video's "it" factor, how will you monetize it?
Here are a few tips I've learned from my biggest viral video. Of course, the world of online video is constantly changing and certain elements of my success were dependent on unique factors, blah blah blah.
The point is, I hope some of you can find useful information in this post that you can apply to your own unique circumstances.
Backstory
The TV Series: In 2007, I produced a documentary TV series about minor league baseball called, "Playing for Peanuts." My camera crews followed a team at the lowest rung of professional baseball for an entire season. The TV series aired in 10 regional US markets in 2008 and was released on DVD in 2009.
The Viral Video: During one game, the manager - former Major League player Wally Backman - was ejected from the game and proceeding to drop dozens of F-Bombs while tossing bats and balls all over the field. Although footage of the ejection was included in the TV series (2008) and on the DVD (2009), it was heavily edited and censored for basic cable. The uncensored "viral" video wasn't uploaded to the web until July 2010, where it received over 1 million views.
Step 1 - Build a following: Your online following is the infrastructure that will help spread your video initially. Do you have a mailing list? A Facebook Page? A Twitter account? If not, you should probably get one or all of these elements working for you before you release the video.
My viral video had the benefit of a three-year buildup - the initial incident garnered some national media attention, the TV series was seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers (2008) and the DVD had some modest sales and generally positive reviews (2009). Add to that the fact that Backman is a former Major League player and he has been the fan favorite to become the manager of the New York Mets since 2008, and I had a base of people who were at least somewhat familiar with the video.
Beyond that, I had used the attention from media reviews and fan interest to compile a mailing list of fans and media contacts. I also had a MySpace, Facebook and Twitter account for the show, but I found the email list to be much more effective.
Step 2 - Get a Blip TV Account: I can't stress this enough - GET A BLIP TV ACCOUNT. Blip TV offers ad-supported video from the moment you start your account. In contrast, YouTube will make you wait weeks or months before they allow you to have an ad-supported YouTube Partner account (if at all).
Uploading to Blip TV will also help you prove that you are the owner of your videos. More on this later...
Step 3 - Apply for a Google Adsense Account: An Adsense account is required for ad-supported YouTube videos. This will become important a few steps down the road...
Step 4 - Apply for a YouTube Partner Account: A Partner account is required for ad-supported videos on YouTube. Partner applications take a long time to be approved and many times you will have to re-apply after an initial rejection, so it's important to get started early.
Step 5 - Prime the Pump With Other Videos: Do you have other videos that are in the same genre, though not quite as interesting? Start releasing those videos every week on Blip to build up your fan base. Make sure your fans know about your other social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
Since these are not your "money making" videos, you should also release them on YouTube, via Blip TV's Distribution service (it's free).
Before releasing my viral video, I had released hundreds of "behind-the-scenes" videos on both Blip and YouTube.
Step 6 - Release on Blip, Tell Your Friends, Go Viral: When the time comes to release your viral video, you should only release it on Blip TV because it will be ad-supported. However, Blip doesn't have the huge viewership of YouTube, so you're going to have to send the link to your friends and fans. You should also email any media contacts or bloggers who might be interested in posting the video on their site.
In my case, I sent a message out through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and on my website. I also sent personal emails to my friends and to sports bloggers. Once a few blogs posted the video, it went viral within minutes.
Step 7 - Don't Release on YouTube (Yet): You should try to avoid putting the video onto YouTube at this point, because it won't be ad-supported. However, you should keep checking YouTube for unauthorized copies of your video being uploaded by other users. In my case, there were dozens of unauthorized versions of my video on YouTube.
Step 8 - Learn How to File a DMCA Complaint: Should you find an unauthorized copy of your video on YouTube, you need to fill out a DMCA form. You can find the form here - YouTube Copyright Complaint Form. You will have to reference the Blip TV url of your original viral video in your complaint - this will prove that you had access to the video before the unauthorized uploads, thus establishing that you are the video's owner.
Personally, I would have rather placed my ads on the unauthorized video uploads, but YouTube only permits members of their Content ID program to do that. Similar to the Partner program, it can take months to be approved for the Content ID program, so it won't be an option for you until long after your video has faded into the viral graveyard.
Step 9 - When Blip Views Subside, Upload to YouTube: My video garnered over 500k views on Blip TV in about a week. After that, the views fell sharply, so I finally uploaded to YouTube. Even though it wasn't ad-supported, I went to YouTube for the following reasons:
- With my Blip views fading, I no longer felt like I was cannibalizing my ad-supported views by uploading to YouTube.
- Going to YouTube exposed the video to a new audience that may not have seen it. My 500K views on Blip were great, but consider that YouTube has tens of millions of users. That's a huge untapped audience.
- Uploading a viral video on YouTube increases your chances of getting a YouTube Partner account. A Partner account is required for ad-supported videos.
Step 10 - Get on TV: Once your video hits YouTube, you should see a steady stream of views. If your video hits the right chord in a certain genre (cute puppy videos, gross out videos, etc.), you may be contacted by one of the TV clip shows. See what they're willing to pay you for use of the clip - figure on a few hundred dollars or more, depending on the clip. And make sure the agreement you sign is NON-EXCLUSIVE. This will allow you to make similar deals with other clip shows.
Hope that helps... Leave your thoughts, questions and your own tips in the comments section below. And don't forget to become a fan of Playing for Peanuts on Facebook!
And here is the video. The fun stuff starts at about the 1:00 mark - CAUTION EXTREMELY NSFW LANGUAGE!
Click here to view the embedded video.