Source: www.sxc.huAs digital media content creators continue to explore different venues, it’s important to focus on some of the basics about what makes online media different than traditional media. These core tips revolve around social media, technology, audience building, and entertainment.
- Audience: First and foremost, it’s important to create shows that audiences can relate with. If you can’t describe your show and it’s potential viewers in 2 sentences, then you need to modify your show and it’s content.
- Technology: Digital content revolves around the advancement of technology. While members of your organization may be technically knowledgeable, a majority of consumers are not. Don’t confuse them by throwing around complex terms such as FLV, WMV, 720P, etc.
- Interaction: Lately, many people that are coming to digital content creation are coming from traditional platforms such as film, television, radio, etc. If you’re in that category, make sure that you interact with your audience. It still surprises me how many new producers just blatantly ignore all emails, Facebook messages, etc.
- Promotion: From a business perspective, it’s important to promote your show on a daily basis. Many digital producers simply set aside ‘X’ minutes a day to promote their content. However, in many cases, promotion is more important than production.
- Quality: Focus on quality — technical and creative. Even though it’s the web don’t assume that people will continue to watch poor quality content.
- Frequency: If you can’t produce an episode every week, then don’t bother producing. However, this doesn’t mean that you should be producing and distributing 52 episodes a year. That will simply burn you out. Take breaks between seasons, but during a season, always publish frequently.
- Cash-flow: Similar to traditional media properties, an online show is a business venture. Make sure that you have enough cash to produce your next episode.
- Monetization: As it stands currently, very few shows manage to turn a profit. Make monetization and important organizational goal. Sponsors won’t approach you. You need to approach them. Furthermore, beyond advertising, there are other ways to make money. Things like merchandising and subscription can provide a steady stream of income.
- Platforms: The web is all about discovery. People jump from site to site in order to explore content. If you’re just distributing your show via one platform, the chances of content discovery are very low. Make sure that you partner up with sites like Blip.TV that can help you syndicate your content.
- Explore: The online media space continues to evolve every day. Make sure that you continue to explore different options!
