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Marc Rosenbush’s Internet Marketing for Filmmakers
How marketing your film online could be the best distribution deal you’ll ever find
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MM: What are some of the benefits of marketing your film on the Internet?
MR: One benefit is control over your relationship with your audience. Let’s say Miramax buys your film; they sell 100,000 DVDs and get lots of people to see it in theaters. You don’t own any of those people’s e-mail addresses, so the next time you want to make a movie you’re starting from square one again. If you sell it over the Internet, you are in personal communication with your own fan base. This is something that people in the independent music world started to figure out years ago. If you’ve got a mailing list of 20,000 people who bought your film, guess who’s going to buy your next film?
MM: Would you recommend marketing online from the beginning, or shopping a film around among other distributors before marketing it yourself?
MR: I think you should do both. I think while you’re taking the film to festivals or making the film, be collecting e-mail addresses all the time and building your list. That way, if the Weinsteins come in and buy your movie, it’s fabulous. You get paid $1 million to go away, but you’ll still have the list of fans to help support your film. But given the 99 percent chance that the Weinsteins are not going to buy your movie, you’re much better off having the tools you need and understanding the principles of marketing.
MM: What do you think are the key elements of a Website that can keep people interested—and encourage them to buy the movie?
MR: The secret is understanding how traffic moves, how to find the target audiences that are predisposed to buying your film. I could have 15 people come to my site who are exactly the right market for my film but there may be 150 people who come from some random list.
The second thing is understanding how to craft an offer that an audience will respond to; there has got to be a credibility value, which is someone other than you saying that this is worth seeing. If you go to a film festival—even if you don’t win any awards but have an official entry—that laurel wreath can be on your ad or Website. That builds credibility.
One interesting thing about my own film is that we didn’t get into any major festivals, but we did get into 14 smaller festivals and won seven or eight awards. It’s funny: If you haven’t been to Sundance or Cannes or one of the big festivals, the major studios don’t take you seriously. They say, “Oh that’s a little festival, that doesn’t mean anything.” But the audience doesn’t know the difference. The audience sees six, seven or eight critical notices that say “Winner of the Audience Award” and it doesn’t matter if it comes from a little festival. They say, “Wow. That’s an award-winning film.” So that has credibility.
The third component is financial value. Financial value is created through your pricing structure or through discounts, bonus gifts or add-ons.
MM: Your Website says that your participants will be able to sell more copies of their film through Internet marketing and distribution than going with another option. What is it about this system that makes you so confident?
MR: First of all, I’m not saying it will sell more copies than traditional distribution. What I’m saying is that if you’re going to self-distribute, the Internet is probably the most effective way to do it. There are several fundamental keys to the Internet. The first one is automation and that means that things happen without you once you set the system in motion. I took a trip not too long ago, came back after a three-day weekend and found that 700 additional copies of my film had been sold. It never stops. So automation is huge.
The second piece is the concept of huge, niche audiences that can congregate on the Internet. It doesn’t matter what the subject matter of your film is; there is some kind of niche audience that exists in massive numbers and this is the kind of thing people don’t realize creates such big numbers. My film was a Buddhist film, so it attracted a spiritual audience, a New Age audience, a Buddhist audience. It was also an art film so there was a David Lynch/Jim Jarmusch kind of audience. All those people hang out in groups on the Internet. All those people are customers of other Websites that own their e-mail addresses. So your job is to make deals with the people who own those e-mail addresses.
There are people in the independent film world talking pretty heavily about how to use MySpace and Facebook. That can be useful, but it’s not as instantaneous and efficient as giant e-mail lists, which is really the nuts and bolts of the entertainment industry: Moving traffic and making money.
For information on Marc Rosenbush and his marketing seminars, visit http://www.internetmarketingforfilmmakers.com or http://www.makeyourmoneybackseminar.com. For information on Zen Noir, visit http://www.zenmovie.com.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Raul Gomez on 10/06/08 at 8:11 pm
no comment
- Comment by Julian Perrera on 10/07/08 at 5:58 pm
I couldn’t agree more about getting access to your fans’ email addresses. If you do a big push for your current movie and get permission to contact them they will be the first place you go when you have a next movie.
Definitely build a list of people that want to hear from you, give them content to keep them engaged, and they will be there and interested when you have something for sale.
- Comment by websites sale on 10/10/08 at 11:14 pm
I agree with you that anyone can make a movie, but that also means that making films has completely outrun the ability of traditional distributors to distribute them.
Thanks for sharing such interesting read.- Comment by Effective Article Marketing on 12/10/08 at 3:27 am
This is one of very few blogs that was worth the read, a great insight. My friend will be so exciting to check out that. Thank you for sharing out. Publish Your Work Online
- Comment by affiliate marketing guide on 12/21/08 at 12:57 am
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- Comment by Daily Ponders Blog on 3/03/09 at 6:27 am
I believe this aspect is growing everywhere as business owners and movie directors learn what it is. For example, Phoenix is much more sophisticated in this regards than here in Tucson. I average small business owner is still way behind in their understanding such incidents.
- Comment by Internet Marketing on 3/28/09 at 6:33 am
I believe that Internet Marketing is most impotent for all. Every one online has the same hope and that is to be number 1 on Google for all their keywords. This form of Internet marketing can be achieved in 2 ways only, and that is by featuring as a sponsored link or as a position in the natural listings.
- Comment by Web Marketing on 5/23/09 at 5:37 am
Turns out making a film isn’t so tough. On the other hand, getting your film out into the world, replenishing your bank account, paying off your credit cards and making your investors happy is another story entirely (and usually not a comedy with a happy ending).
- Comment by web development company on 7/23/09 at 2:39 pm
I wanted to earn money from Internet business. How to start or any help or Guide book, any thing please tell me.
- Comment by india Search engine optimization company on 8/11/09 at 7:36 am
Hi guys,
The moviemaker describes himself as coming from a “starving artist’s mentality,” where he was “embarrassed to be too aggressive a marketer.....
Thanks!- Comment by Melaroo on 8/28/09 at 5:51 pm
Looks like an interesting concept to push films. The digital age has sparked plenty of new ideas and this is another great example.
- Comment by Internet marketing company on 1/12/10 at 12:28 am
Hello guys!
Very impressive information and article about the film industry in internet marketing and I get new ideas from your site and let it be I will convey your information to my buddies....
- Comment by jonahclint on 3/03/10 at 10:50 am
I think music can be used in a viral marketing clip as long as under a minute and it can’t be redistributed later by someone else. Podcasts are a different thing because they can be recorded and reproduced on media such as tapes or CD’s.easy saver program developer
- Comment by SEO Training on 3/16/10 at 6:50 am
Aggressive marketing is method to success and that is the real mantra for successful online marketing.
- Comment by para kazanma on 3/30/10 at 4:07 pm
Great article.. Thank you bro.
- Comment by Public Relations on 4/08/10 at 9:52 am
Hi. I need some help for internet marketing. How can i do marketing online. I am a fresher and i need some Projects to do like website designing, website development in php and .net etc. that i could add in my CV and show experience to get a good job. So i need to do some marketing to get clients. can any one tell me some information about internet marketing?
- Comment by dmoz site submission on 4/28/10 at 12:49 pm
I need your help! I’m still designing this lens about Internet Marketing for Filmmakers because I would like to find out what filmmakers..
- Comment by allan on 7/19/10 at 11:09 am
Internet marketing has a huge potential if you know how to use it and the distribution of this film proves it. You can easily make any business or products known if you own an website for example. All you would have to do is to make sure that it’s high ranked by the search engines optimization and although this is not easy but to accomplish it can be done if you work on it.
- Comment by facebook backgrounds on 7/23/10 at 11:16 pm
It’s a very complicated system I had run across, one that publishing companies use to get books to the top of the Amazon bestseller list in one day. It involves a whole bunch of joint venture partners working together to get traffic to a site. It’s not a simple system that I can just explain in a few words, but my course gets into all the details.facebook backgrounds
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Probably for the marketing a proper insurance will be good to proceed more for the good gain of money.
- Comment by pratishtha on 10/23/10 at 3:31 pm
internet marketing and I get new ideas from your site and let it be I will convey your information to my buddies.... Quotes by Angelina Jolie
- Comment by pratishtha on 10/31/10 at 12:23 am
I’m doing a disservice to myself and the audience by not using any of my power to get it into their hands.” Sound familiar?Dane
- Comment by pratishtha on 11/07/10 at 1:16 pm
your credit cards and making your investors happy is another story entirely (and usually not a comedy with a happy ending). seo
- Comment by Ski Holidays on 11/13/10 at 12:55 am
I think this is a great idea. I’m very much impressed.
- Comment by New Homes on 11/14/10 at 5:32 am
This is simply fabulous. You really have a point there Julian.
- Comment by pratishtha on 11/18/10 at 2:41 pm
venture partners working together to get traffic to a site. It’s not a simple system that I can just explain in a few words, but my course gets into all the details. affordable family vacations
- Comment by pratishtha on 11/20/10 at 12:43 am
’ve bought this film for my distribution company in a second.’ Now there are hundreds of those kinds of films at festivals.” depuy recall
- Comment by Daily Local Deals on 12/25/10 at 5:16 am
I would’ve bought this film for my distribution company in a second.’ Now there are hundreds of those kinds of films at festivals.”
- Comment by Prints on 1/24/11 at 6:24 am
Marc Rosenbush expert in his case, he deserves respect!
- Comment by Traffic on 1/26/11 at 3:02 pm
Thank you. This information should help to get more traffic to my website
- Comment by Sarah L Babs on 2/21/11 at 12:38 am
In my experience, the single most effective way to get the correct targeted audience to your site is by forming partnerships with Websites, companies or individuals who have large e-mail lists that are targeted to that particular market
- Comment by Railyard Condos on 6/23/11 at 6:24 am
Ideas like these are very impressive..thanks for sharing this article..
- Comment by estrategias de e-marketing on 6/30/11 at 9:29 am
Now the internet is very powerful and it really matters how you enter it with your movie. There are a lot of things that you should know before making a site for your movie. Among the musts there is : .com domain, don’t use “the” in the movie name, you will need a SEO consultant. I hope this will help you in the future.
- Comment by inversion table on 7/22/11 at 12:28 am
also means that making films has completely outrun the ability of traditional distributors to distribute them. ou that anyone can make a movie, but that
- Comment by Gem Franco on 10/10/11 at 6:33 am
I have a client that also use online marketing for their films. They are an independent film makers and they use internet marketing to get more exposure. This may work great because their subscribers will be updated about their upcoming films. inversion table reviews
- Comment by raj24 on 12/01/11 at 5:59 am
Online marketing could be really helpful in making such ventures helpful. Many people all across the world engage in different online activities so it is wise to reaching out to them through online marketing. Classified ads is another great medium for getting consumers in a specific city such as Cincinnati classifieds.
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