Making Money with Online How-To Videos

Turn on the camcorder and turn your expertise into dollars

By Geoff Kohl, Editor-in-Chief, SecurityInfoWatch.com

Sure there are plenty of sites like YouTube which give video away for free, but cable companies figured out long ago that people will pay for access to video. While sites like VideoJug.com may give the “how-to” on making a good Mojito cocktail away for free, entrepreneurs know their expertise is worth something. From business training videos to technical skills and even salsa dance lessons, people are making money across the web selling their how-to video content. They’re setting themselves up as web-only “schools”, sometimes offering certificates, and sometimes just offering the knowledge itself. Currently, smaller organizations and individuals with niche knowledge -- who are finding that they can leverage their expertise to create pay-to-view how-to videos – have been the ones to recognize this looming market. It works and people pay for it because a video showing me how to change the seals in my old leaking toilets is going to help me a lot more than a text description, or even an article with a couple photos. Seeing an expert remove the flaps, floats and seals and seeing exactly how to align a float chain is going to get me on the road to water conservation faster than I can say “Home Depot.” So who should do it?
1) If you really know your subject matter and can be considered an authority on the topic.
2) If you’ve got a knack for transferring your knowledge to a visual and spoken format.
3) If this content isn’t already being provided for free.

Still interested? Let’s get going:

Shooting the video

Above all, if you’re asking people to pay for your videos, you will want to make sure they are being delivered a quality product.
Try: First, buy a decent video camera, and consider HD if you want to make the videos available in a hard-copy format. Retailer Huppins One Call has a great site for comparing features and tends to be competitively priced. Second, get a decent tripod like one of these from B&H. You might also consider doing an online videography course. VideoUniversity.com offers one that claims to teach the basics.

Editing the video

After shooting the video, you need to make it look good. If you’re going to do this yourself, you should acquire some decent video editing software. Remember to start the editing process with a lot more raw footage than you need.
Try: Macintosh computers come with a handy program pre-loaded called iMovie that makes it easy. They also support the high-end software Final Cut Pro (very nice and actually pro quality!). If you’re using a PC, look at Pinnacle Studio or just use the Windows Movie Maker software that comes with most machines. QuickTime Pro is a simple program for doing simple edits and for compressing files into many common formats and comes in both Mac and Windows versions.

Define your payment and delivery model

It’s safe to divide the two content payment models into a few different models. Pay-per-download is a common model. Pay-per-view is a little trickier, as it means someone only gets to watch the video once per payment, though that can be help in protecting your content. Finally there’s the good old subscription model where someone pays once and then has access to the complete compilation and future updates. Decide whether you want to stream the video so you retain the data on your server, or whether you want to allow someone to download the video.
Try: Online video training site Lynda.com uses the subscription model. The Video Journal of Orthopaedics offers two models – one where you can buy individual videos, and another where you get an unlimited subscription (both are based upon a specified period of time). Some video publishers may consider going to a micropayment system like Pico Pay. You may want to use a Microsoft video broadcast manager platform to be the underlying delivery system for your website. There’s even been talk of Google delivering a pay-per-view system for its extensive video database, where video creators would get money back and Google would take a small cut.

Giver you site some credibility

If your small site selling how-to videos about home maintenance is relatively unknown on the Internet, customers may be slightly hesitant to make purchases and may question whether you’re a legitimate small business or a phishing site set up to steal their credit card information.
Try: Popular ways for small web businesses to get around that are to get certified. The TRUSTe seal has become a web icon that indicates an e-business meets certain privacy and security standards. The Better Business Bureau also has a program for e-commerce businesses. Verisign is another trusted name that verifies e-commerce security. Consumers also tend to trust out-of-the-box stores that are run on platforms like Google Checkout or Yahoo!, rather than a custom platform they’ve never seen before.

Turn existing videos into online moneymakers

Has your business developed training and how-to videos that are sold as training tools in the form of DVDs and VHS tapes? These are perfect fodder for online video delivery methods. If you’ve been paid to make a live presentation, such as a tradeshow or users conference, consider sitting down with a camcorder and creating an online video.
Try: BakerCommunications.com is one such company that managed to parlay its “in-person” expertise directly into online video training.

Give people a tease

One way to get people hooked on your how-to training flicks is to give them a taste so they get an idea of the quality of the program before they have to buy.
Try: The VideoProfessor, a company you’ve surely see in late-night “As Seen on TV” selling its computer training program, does a great job at this. They offer the basic segments for free, and then charge for the online videos segments that have the real “meat” of the training.

Keep videos short

Everyone has an attention span, and…I’m sorry, what was I writing about? But there’s a serious point here that you’re better off keeping videos short and to the point. Split longer programs into multiple segments, which has the added benefit of giving you more revenue sources.
Try: BusinessTrainingExperts.com, which trains business managers, limits its training videos to 20 minutes each. Like VideoProfessor, they also allow free previews to get buyers hooked.