Top 4 Ways Filmmakers Can Make Money Online

 So, you’ve decided to be a filmmaker!  Congratulations, and welcome!  We’re sure you’ve met plenty of people who say things like, “That’s cool.  It’s really competitive and tough to break in or make money.  Good luck…”

Well, we’re here to help and to tell you: luck has little to do with success.  Lucky people get rich.  But making a living, surviving, and growing your filmography/skillset are decisions you make.  Those decisions open the door to having your work seen and respected.  If you’re reading this, you’ve already decided to make a living and jump-start your career, now!

Nothing Worth Doing is Easy, and starting can be the hardest part.  We’ve laid out 5 great options for making money from your filmmaking skills, capitalizing on the internet, and using existing platforms to increase your own value in the filmmaking marketplace!  You can start on any or all of these TODAY, within the next 24 hours!

Our goal is to get you productive, efficient, and financially comfortable, so you can begin creating your dream projects, without stressing over paying the bills.

For each of the 4 Options below (plus one bonus!), we’ll provide you with:

• Links to each option’s relevant platforms where you can start working now!
• A short synopsis on how the platform(s) work.
• Some benefits to using each platform.
• Some challenges you may face.
• Some of our pro-tips on maximizing each option, based on our own experiments and experiences!

We’ve kept this guide as short and simple as possible.  The last thing you need is to waste time reading, when you could be taking action!

So, forget the naysayers and “good luckers!”  Use these tools as best you can and get the most out of this crazy industry.

1. FIND WORLDWIDE FREELANCE WORK

PLATFORMS: Elance, Upwork, Fiverr

HOW IT WORKS

These networks are the best places to dive into the worldwide freelance filmmaking workforce. You’re no longer limited to finding work where you live—these platforms connect you with people in need of your services around the globe, and put you in competition with every other freelancer on the global market.

But don’t fear the competition!  With consistent drive, motivation, and competitive rates, you’ll break in.  Once you have one positive client review on a single project, it gets even easier!

Just create a login and profile for any or all of the networks, add as much information and portfolio work as you can, keep it updated, and hunt around for as many work options as possible! The hunting is easy: people either find you based on your listed qualifications, or you can search jobs by category (video, design, web development, etc.) and place a bid to do the work.

BENEFITS

• You’re joining global networks.  From East Asia, to the US West Coast, you can bid on any job, anywhere. It’s the dream come true: work remotely without ever having leave your computer!
• Your history is visible.  Ask for reviews of your work once it’s done and your clients will rate your performance—both execution and communication-wise. The more positive reviews you build up, the more appealing your services become! The more projects clients can see you have completed, the more they’ll trust that you’re the person for the job.
• The competition is visible. Spend some time cruising any of these platforms to see what your competition is doing: how their work looks, what they charge, how many jobs they’ve done, and what about their profile makes them appealing. Use these findings as the recipe for success!

CHALLENGES

• The competition seems endless. Joining a global network is a little overwhelming. There are many freelancers with a lot more experience than you may have on the site, and many of them have track records. This can be intimidating and can make starting a nervous process.
• It’s tough to break through. Because of all the noise and competitive bids, it can be really hard to get your first few jobs. Again, you’ll be up against people with visible track records. But once you get a few under your belt—which just takes time and discipline—it keeps getting easier.
• There’s always somebody cheaper. You may look at a competitor and say, “How can I compete with $3 an hour? My rate is $15!” There’s always someone asking for less money to do more work. But ask yourself: “How does my work compare,” and “How can I showcase my strengths to make my rate more worthwhile for the client?”

PRO-TIPS

• Start with a discount. If you have a really small portfolio and no reviews, it’s smart to start with a low rate, just to accrue some experience and relationships. You can raise your rate with your reputation, but start low in the beginning.  Even position your low-rate as a “deal” for your first few clients, if you have a portfolio to back that claim!

• Start small. Your earliest goal is to build a visible reputation on the site that makes you attractive to paying customers. Start by bidding on a lot of very small jobs you know you can do quickly and efficiently. They may not pay the best or be the sexiest, but their payoff is huge with the great reviews you’ll receive, and your future clients will be more apt to trust you with larger, better-paying gigs.

• Be personable, ALWAYS! Just because you’re never face-to-face with the client, doesn’t mean your personality is irrelevant. Always be kind, open, and responsive. Your reviews matter, and any satisfied client has the potential to reach out for more work and an ongoing relationship. Keep them happy and wanting more. Be especially respectful to clients outside your country of origin, as customs may differ between your cultures.

• Be dedicated and disciplined. You get what you put into these sites. If you visit a couple times, fill out some information on your profile, and give up after a short period, you’ll see little reward. But if you treat finding work on these platforms like a job and spend many hours a day bidding on gigs, you’ll prosper.

• Be patient. You’ll likely lose out on a few gigs that you know you could’ve done. That goes with the territory. Take each loss as a lesson in what you could have done differently, and move on to the next.

• Always ask for reviews. At the end of every gig, politely ask your client to write a performance review on your profile, and thank them once they do! If available, write one for them as well.

2. LET WORK FIND YOU!

Platforms: Demand Media Studios

HOW IT WORKS

Demand Media paid a good part of our bills for about a year and-a-half! Ever go to eHow.com? eHow has the goal of being the #1 place online to learn how to do anything. But they don’t produce their how-to videos in-house; they contract out to Demand Media Studios, who in-turn outsource to you!

It functions like this: If Demand is hiring in your area, they’re looking for videographers near you to take available assignments. Assignments include going to an approved location with a professional in a given field, and shooting an interview or how-to video. Videos are expected to be 3-5 minutes long, and are often compiled into collections of three or more videos, based on a common topic (example: “Denim for dummies,” “Hemming jeans,” and “Cuffing Levis” could be lumped into a project on denim, in the fashion section). You get paid for each video you produce in that collection.

The opportunity to do this work is only available when Demand is hiring in your area, so you have to keep an eye out. You’ll also need to have—or have access to your own equipment that fits their specs. And, you’ll need to prove your skills with an interview sample. But once you’re in, if you can adhere to their production rules and work quickly, you can make some decent money on the side.

BENEFITS

• Work remotely. If you can get in with Demand, it means you’re working from wherever you are in the world; they want you because of your location. You’re generally working in our around your city, with local professionals.

• Learn a lot about a lot of things. We like learning about stuff, and this definitely fed that. In the span of a year, we learned how shoes are designed, how to sew shirts, how to make the perfect Martini, how to make the perfect cup of coffee, and how to cook the perfect T-Bone steak!

• The work is relatively simple and fast. Once you get in the swing of making these collections, you realize that an average collection of ten videos can easily be shot and cut in less than a day. If you have access to two cameras, that speeds things up immensely. The money may not seem like much, but you can refine the process to the point where your biggest hold-up will be finding more Demand projects in your area.

• Projects are customizable. If there aren’t a lot of available projects near your area, you can build your own! By browsing the long list of videos Demand needs, you can combine them based on common themes, and construct your own collections. Once collections are approved, you can produce them and get paid.

CHALLENGES

• The pay is—or can seem low. Demand Media pays you $35 per video. But, once you get the process down, you’ll realize it can take roughly an hour to produce a single video, which is actually decent money. It does take some refining, and considerable effort to find doable projects.

• Coordination is involved. Depending on the project, you may have to coordinate on screen talent, a location, or both. This may not seem like much, but often talent won’t come with a location, so you’ll have to coordinate two separate sets of time constraints for a block of a few hours, and get both talent and location approved by Demand Media.

• You may not always be able to pick your subjects or talent. If you’re in this game for money only, grabbing whatever projects are available, you may have to work with people you don’t know, in unfamiliar places, on subjects that don’t interest you. That’s just the nature of freelance. We once did a shoot in a loud environment with a very difficult person as our talent. But, the project turned out well and by the end we all left smiling. We’ve worked other projects in beautiful locations with the nicest people. Just be strong and professional.

• Material can be very dry. The work is redundant: simple camera setups, simple edits, and often topics you never would’ve been interested in.

PRO-TIPS

• Refine your workflow, quickly. The sooner you master a process, the quicker you’ll be able to churn out videos, and the more money you’ll make. Pay attention to the most streamlined ways of producing for Demand, and you’ll maximize efficiency.

• Prepare Heavily. Use as much time in advance as possible to plan your shoots. Think of the potential problems of your location—noise, questionable lighting, etc.—and plan how to tackle them. Be in touch with your talent in advance, and remind them that the more prepared they are, the faster the process will go. They are generally professionals taking time from their day to do this for exposure. They’ve been vetted by Demand Media to prove on-camera ability and knowledgeability, but without preparation, things stall. Make sure you and they are as prepared as possible.

• Build relationships. Foster agreeable working relationships with talent and those in charge of locations. When you do, you increase the chances of future collaboration. If another project comes up or can be constructed, it could be more work and exposure for all involved!

• Hack your connections. One thing we did early on with Demand: we sat down and made a list of everyone we knew and what they did for a living. We then went through the lists of videos and projects in those fields, and built or claimed projects based around the skills of our friends, families, and acquaintances. If you can attach talent and/or a location to a project, it’s yours. Just assist talent and location owners through the vetting process. Don’t worry, it’s pretty easy! Compiling your own projects based on who you know opens up your flexibility quite a bit and allows you to create more work rapidly. If there are ten videos on “Accounting Basics,” and you know an accountant who would be good on camera and has a presentable office, that’s ten videos you could get paid for!

• Get on Demand’s good side. If Demand likes the work you’re doing, they’ll promote you by suggesting jobs nearby, or projects you may accell at. We made a point of connecting with our regional project manager semi-regularly via email to stay fresh in his mind. If ever there was an issue, we were always quick to respond, and very polite in the process.

3. CROWDFUND FILM PROJECTS

Platforms: Kickstarter, Slated, IndieGoGo

HOW IT WORKS

If you’re a filmmaker at any level of the game, you’re likely familiar with crowdfunding. Crowdfunding allows you to assemble a preview and pitch for your project, introduce it to the world, and take contributions to produce it. Project creators incentivize contributions with perks or rewards at different dollar levels.

Crowdfunding is not a way to make a living (it’s frowned upon to raise a chunk of money and simply live off of it). However, if you’re funding a project that may take a couple months, it’s not wrong to ask for the bare minimum it would take to pay your bills in that time.

Crowdfunding is an amazing way to fund dream projects—within reason. It puts the power of producing in your—and your network’s hands. Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are donation-based with perks in return, whereas Slated gives filmmakers access to a thousands of traditional movie investors who want to buy in for co-ownership of a film and its profits.

BENEFITS

• You control the message. As the filmmaker, you are in full control of how your project meets its audience, who its audience is, the story you want to tell with your project, the story you want to tell about your project. You (and your team) are fully responsible for your project’s marketing, from the outset.

• You (generally) retain ownership. With Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, no backer is buying in; they are giving you a helping hand, because they believe in you and/or your idea. They do so with no expectation of monetary gain. Therefor, you fully own your project. With traditional film investments or a service like Slated, you would likely be raising a larger sum of money and selling pieces of ownership to investors who believe they can make money off your finished product.

• Excellent marketing tools. The primary benefit of crowdfunding isn’t even the money you raise, but the attention your project gains. Every backer is a future audience member; they’re your earliest adopters. If you treat them right, they’ll be brand ambassadors for your work, promoting your film to friends and family because you made them feel a part of the process.

• Strong community. Crowdfunding platforms are built on strong communities of generosity. By contributing to and sharing others’ projects, you’ve joined a larger movement. The relationships you build and cultivate while running or contributing to crowdfunding projects could benefit all parties in the future.

• Two stories for the price of one. Filmmaker Edward Burns said that each film’s marketing “should include two stories: the story in the film, and the story of the film.” If the story of your film began with successful crowdfunding, it shows potential viewers that your project comes with believers. Crowdfunding is social proof that your project matters.

CHALLENGES

• Hard work. Crowdfunding a project is not easy. In our experience, it’s a full time job. Between putting all the necessary elements together, plotting a strategy, executing the strategy, and interacting regularly with your supporters, it takes serious time. Never look at crowdfunding as an easy way to make a buck, especially if you have a small following. In many ways it can me more time consuming and difficult than traditional film funding.

• All-or-nothing (sometimes). On IndieGoGo, you have the option to collect whatever money you earn, irrelevant of whether you meet your goal or not. On Kickstarter, funding is all-or-nothing. You either meet your goal and collect all of it, or you miss the mark and get $0. While we feel the all-or-nothing model is most effective, it adds an extra layer of pressure to the process.

• Dependent on your network. The success of your campaign has everything to do with how big your world is: not just your Facebook friends or Twitter followers (in fact, those mean very little), but your immediate network. Do you have a lot of close friends, believers in your work, or fans? Do you have a large family? Do you have a tight group of people in your life who you know will contribute and hype your project? Statistically, 90% of projects that reach 30% of their goal in the first week succeed. This statistic is undeniably true, so be sure your network will come out in droves to hit that 30% early on.

• Did we mention hard work? We can’t stress this enough. CROWDFUNDING IS REALLY DIFFICULT AND TIME CONSUMING! But, it can be a really fulfilling experience.

PRO-TIPS

• Be realistic about your network. Remember that key 30%? If you know your immediate network will be worth about $500 in the first three days, don’t set your funding goal at $80,000. Create your goals based on what you know you can earn, not your dream budget. It’s better to overfund by 20% than under-fund by 1%.

• Do outreach. Make a list of everyone in your immediate network who you think will contribute. Reach out to them one week in advance to let them know what you’re doing, then again the day you go live. Spend serious time searching for blogs, sites, social media groups, and institutions that may be interested in your project. Send a personable email with a link to your project and kindly ask if they would share it in their networks. Do this early and often, and don’t forget to thank them, publicly and personally.

• Be responsive and accessible. Remember this when you are a project creator: the thrill of contributing to a crowdfunding campaign is the feeling that you’re a part of something larger than yourself. Send thank-you messages to every backer. Answer questions you receive as quickly as possible. Send regular project updates to your backers, even after the funding is complete. Keep people in the loop and let them know you’re grateful. It’s just the right thing to do and makes a big difference!

• Back other projects. While your project is running, search for similar projects, contribute to them, and reach out to their creators with praise. What goes around comes around, and it all comes back around to the community.

• Prepare and strategize heavily. Plan to spend at least a month prior to launch (hopefully more) constructing a day-to-day strategy. If you can, get help. Outreach and interaction are musts that take time. Strategizing takes the mystery out of the daily grind, freeing you up to do what’s important: keep people engaged. A strategy also provides an outline for each asset you’ll need along the way: update notes or videos, added perks, benchmarks, etc.

4. MONETIZE YOUR PERSONAL PROJECTS

Platforms: Vimeo OnDemand, Reelhouse, VHX, Distribber

HOW IT WORKS

Self-distribution has become widely accepted in the filmmaking world! With this evolution came a handful of amazing tools and platforms, aimed at putting the power of spreading film into each filmmaker’s hands.

With the above platforms, a producer can sell their work online, through respected sites and interfaces, for very little money. While Vimeo OnDemand requires a Pro membership costing $199 a year, you are added to a massive library of work under a reputable label, with great accessibility to Apple TVs, Roku boxes, etc. Reelhouse and VHX are free upfront, and offer similar solutions; VHX also allows filmmakers to construct their site as a storefront, from the ground up! Distribber will get you on iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix for a variety of flat fees.

When used correctly, these platforms enable filmmakers to profit off their hard work. As your catalog of work expands, audience members will seek out your past projects and find them readily available to purchase! You’ve become your own distribution company.

BENEFITS

• Total control over distribution. You, the author, own your audience’s relationship with your product. You get to choose how it’s packaged, sold, and interacted with. You raise your baby, from script to screen.

• Can be very lucrative. Depending on budget, strategy, and reach, a filmmaker can make quite a bit more money self-distributing. Your movie will live online forever, or until you take it down. Again, the more films you produce, the larger your audience becomes, and the more you’re likely to sell past films. You could be making extra income off your work for the rest of your life, especially if you have a sleeper cult classic!

• Extremely low overhead. If you wanted to invest in all of these platforms, you’re looking at a maximum investment of under $6,000. And that’s if you take every single available option on Distribber, and the rest. That’s still a considerably low bar for entry, compared to past distribution methods! If you don’t use Distribber, you’re looking at a maximum investment of $199 to begin selling a film online.

• Bundles are available. Bundling your film with special features, like behind the scenes, deleted scenes, and other content increases the amount you can charge for your film. You can give consumers the option of buying/renting your film on its own, or getting a bundle. These options distinguish big fans from people just passing through and taking a chance on your movie.

• Rentals are available. The rental market is huge for indie filmmakers. People are more likely to pay a small amount to see something once than a large amount to view something repeatedly—especially when digital home rentals are so much less expensive than movie theater tickets. Having the rental option open is a big plus. It’s now a standard on most self-distribution platforms.

CHALLENGES

• You lose a small percentage of each sale. Vimeo, Reelhouse, and VHX all take a percentage of each sale you make. While the percentages are very low, factor them into what you charge. Seriously, their percentages are far lower than any distributer in history (between 6-10% per sale), but worth noting.

• Getting lost in the noise. Never expect to throw your film on a platform and watch the money pour in. There’re too many others out there working hard to get films seen. You have to think about a strategy to reach your audience, which takes time and money.

• Marketing. If you’re uncomfortable with the term “marketing” and associate it with sheisty sales tactics, approach it like a crowdfunding project (See above). No matter how you go about it, marketing is a must for cutting through the noise.

• It takes a village (or a lot of time). If you have a team or some help, that’s great! If not, commit that you will be directing a great deal of time and energy toward getting a team or some help on board eventually. Otherwise, you’ll hit a ceiling.

PRO-TIPS

• Find your audience. If possible, do market research before starting production. Figure out exactly who and what your audience looks like. How old are they, where do they live, what movies do they watch, where do they watch them, and how much do they generally spend to view? With Facebook and other tools, you’d be surprised how quickly you can come up with these essential pieces of information.
• There is a strategy to releasing. Before jumping in, research “release windows.” They are the strategies to releasing on multiple platforms or in multiple venues (i.e. when to go from one platform or venue to the next, and why). Check out the Start-Up Film school Podcast, Episode 9, Minding VOD Windows with Linda Nelson of Indie Rights. It’s an invaluable introduction to windowing in the digital age!

• Think of the best platform for your film. Your film’s audience may hang out on one platform more than another. If your movie is targeted at middle aged men in the midwest, Hulu may not be the best platform for it. If you’re looking to attract people in their early thirties who are tech enthusiasts and trendsetters, iTunes is a great starting point. Think hard about what your best avenue for release is.

• Price aggressively. Though logic may tell you that no one will pay studio prices for an indie film they’ve heard little to nothing about, don’t let this get in your way. If you’ve engaged them with marketing, they’re interested, but they don’t rent because it costs $6, they probably wouldn’t’ve rented anyway. Price your film as aggressively as possible, still being reasonable and considering its quality. If you had limited resources and your movie lacks the polish of a professional product, price accordingly.

• Bundle when you can. Stock up on extra content and features for a bundle. Having a higher priced option for big fans allows you to get the most from your sales, and gives your most enthusiastic audience members more to fall in love with!

• Collect emails. THIS IS ESSENTIAL! Most platforms have tools for you to collect emails from buyers and followers. Create a mailing list. Without spamming, keep people engaged with where the film is going, and what you’re doing next. This is the process of audience building. If you get a mailing list of 300 people from your first film, those 300 people are going to tell their friends about your next movie; that’s how you grow your art, reach, and business. DO IT!

BONUS: This is a bonus option for making filmmaking money online! We didn’t include it in the master list because it’s not immediate—it takes a long time and is very involved. It’s also a task that any filmmaker or artist should do throughout the span of their career. Incorporating these broad practices at every step of your career will make you into a brand, with time. So, here’s the bonus option:

START YOUR OWN MEDIA COMPANY

YouTube, Podcast, Blog

HOW IT WORKS

If self-distribution makes you a movie distributor, this option makes you a TV or studio mogul. You may not be driven onto the backlot in a Bentley, but you’ll certainly have reach if you play your cards right.

Popular outlets like YouTube videos, Podcasting, Videocasting, and Blogging can open up many doors and generate solid income over time. Writing paid reviews, hosting advertisements on your site, placing ads in your podcasts or videos—these are all common and successful methods of making a living online. Look to the guys over at FilmRiot for instance: they’ve done a wonderful job of building a recognizable brand wherein they are able to do what they love—make fun videos—and get paid for it. They now have a reasonably sized, self-sustaining empire.

A great starting point is the book Crush it, by Gary Vaynerchuk. Vaynerchuk is a modern marketing master, but don’t let your creative mind dissuade you: he’s an advocate for the artist and for making your own living online. It’s a quick read and the audio version is only three hours long, so you can re-listen to it like a manual. By following Vaynerchuk’s council and using available tools to their fullest to create awesome, regular, and valuable content, you’ll be on the road to making a living!

BENEFITS

• Self-motivated. You’ll only produce as much as you’re willing. If you’re passionate, you’ll produce a lot of great content that will feed your growing audience. You steer the ship, dictate the course of your operation, and manage relationships with your fans.

• Unlimited creative opportunities. These technologies deliver infinite options and unexplored territories! Innovate within their worlds; try new things and grow your skills while reaching out and informing and/or entertaining others.

• Comfortable revenue potential. From finding advertisers for your podcast, to affiliate linking within blog posts, to selling your work to the audience you’ve built, or monetizing YouTube content, the revenue varieties are wide and diverse. Because of this variety, you can advertise sparingly in many ways without alienating followers. If your advertising is relevant and helpful to your viewers/listeners/readers, they’ll never spite you for it. The.

• Low overhead. The cost of starting a blog, Podcast, or YouTube channel is $0. Just start now! You have no excuse not to. It doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be.

• Creates an outlet for your work. If you truly build a trusting and respectful relationship with those who consume your content, they’ll become your biggest fans and supporters. They’ll be early adopters of your work. If you have 1000 early adopters, you have a career.

CHALLENGES

• The road is long. Creating an online image and brand is very hard work and takes time. Between creating consistent and original content, and marketing it, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and give up. You have to really commit to the long-haul.

• Trial and error. You’ll have to learn from what does and doesn’t work. Because your ideas are being broadcast to so many diverse individuals, you’ll never please everyone. But you should keep an eye out for helpful insights. Which of your pieces of content is highest rated, being watched or shared most, or is most commented on? Staying on top of these details helps you quantify successful content and grow your audience by repeating what works, and trashing what doesn’t.

• Getting lost in the noise. As with selling your films or crowdfunding, there is a high potential for your content to be lost in the sea of internet mayhem. Again, do not expect to be found—instead anticipate finding your audience.

• A technical learning curve. There are many facets to building a media infrastructure. From submitting Podcasts to iTunes, to constructing a website, to streamlining your marketing process. If you’re not savvy online it will be difficult, but definitely not impossible. You’ll have to learn the online marketplace a day at a time, and figure out how it compliments your work best.

• Not reliable until you have an audience. This isn’t a reliable source of income until you have an active, engaged, and sustained audience for your content. Even then, your job is to grow that audience further by raising the bar of your work. Your income from your online brand will be dependent on the people who take an interest in what you do, so it hinges on human behavior. Again, this takes time.

PRO-TIPS

• Collect emails. No matter what media you are creating or how you’re dispersing it, have a mechanism for email collection. Again, this is the best way to build an audience over time and access your enthusiasts when you need them most. They’ll be the ones who will love your work enough to look forward to announcements.

• Interact. Use “comment” features on Blogs, YouTube, Podcasts, etc. Try and provoke your readers/viewers/listeners to engage with you and what you’ve created, then engage back! Start a dialogue with those who follow you and they’ll respect your attentiveness. This is more than audience-building: it’s community-building.

• Play the long-game with money. This is a frequent mistake many online brands, artists, and entrepreneurs make: the minute they have income, they put it in their pocket and call it good. They collect checks for ad revenue or unit sales and are satisfied with the yields. While this makes sense, there’s a better option: the money you begin collecting should turn around and go right back into your brand! Don’t let your anxiousness to collect cash get in the way of making your brand bigger for another year or so. Be patient. Instead of pocketing $200 in ad revenue from your first couple months, turn around and spend that $200 on software to help improve your social media performance, pay a contractor to improve your site’s interactivity, or buy a piece of camera equipment to improve your YouTube videos. Be logical and plan not to personally make money for a while. Commit that all income will go to growing your operation. This reinvestment of time and money will turn into long-term security. Look at your online brand as an investment, not a meal ticket.

• Join an existing conversation. Certainly focus on what you have to say and why that stands out in the oversaturated internet world? Your content should be specific to you. But, also look around at related conversations in your area. At ShoHawk, our focus is independent filmmaking and making a living in the industry. While we know we can help people in these areas, we also know others out there are having similar conversations. Find conversations like yours and insert your input. Let’s say you make music videos. Part of your YouTube brand is to post making-of content and tutorials for other filmmakers to see and learn from. Find forums where people are asking questions that your videos answers! This is not only valuable to you, but also to the people with questions.

• Be selective with advertisements. There’s nothing worse than going to a filmmaking site and seeing banner ads for cars, shoes, or insurance. Or, watching a YouTube video about a video editing system, and having to sit through an ad for a lame TV show. No one likes irrelevant advertising, so don’t subject your audience to it. Be selective with where your money comes from. If you host a podcast, reach out to advertisers who are relevant to your topic. The same goes for YouTube videos and blogs. Don’t spam your audience with unrelated ads that will alienate them: that shows that you’re just out to make a quick buck. But if your ads are as valuable to your market as your content, people will be more likely to trust you as time goes on!