marketing FREE instructional CDs on using Microsoft Office and more!!

1990
Does anyone remember the commercials for CDs on how to use Microsoft Office and other software products? The TV commercials made the cds seem valuable. Something that you would actually consider buying to learn how to use the most popular software packages being used everywhere. The incredible thing is that these cds were absolutely free. Just call and place your order. How many do you want? Free cds!!............ $4 shipping and handling per cd.

They made millions on the shipping and handling fee!! The cds cost about 20 cents to make. Shipping was less than a dollar. ... I wish I had the actual numbers but it was reported that their brilliant marketing made them millions. That was back in the late 80s early 90s.

I use to imagine applying that kind of marketing scheme to a movie being offered on dvd or blu-ray... Well, those things are now on their way out the door, being completely replaced by streaming, but why couldn't someone do that with streaming? It's all just a matter of software. Someone pays to buy a streaming movie for $x, but for that amount, they receive something tangible. Maybe a photograph of the name actor in the movie or a behind the scenes booklet loaded with pictures, or a small model of something tied to the movie. I don't know if this would work in today's world but it might be worth considering. Do people still value having something they can hold in their hands or is everything just 2D bullshit you watch on your cellphone? I don't know.. I'm not a good judge of these things. I still prefer holding a book to a Kindle. I prefer playing pool with a real pool stick and table, not on a video screen.

What if someone was making a movie that featured a person always seen drinking from a unique coffee cup. Make sure the preview for the movie shows the character drinking from that cup. Maybe the cup has something to do with the story.. Now, you offer the movie for $10.00 or $20.00, Doesn't matter if it's a disc or digital. What matters is that for that price, the buyer also gets a coffee cup pulled from the same mold as the one used in the movie.... Or, the movie costs $3.00 to buy, but the buyer gets a "cracker jack prize". I call it a cracker jack prize because I remember as a kid wanting crackerjack just for the prize inside. Maybe someone may or may not be that interested in watching your movie but like the idea of getting something on their doorstep from the UPS guy or in their mailbox from the mail carrier... These are just quick ideas off the top of my head. With some real thought, maybe someone could come up with a marketing scene that is so brilliant that the micro-budget movie isn't even the real attraction. The real attraction will be the OTHER thing they are getting for their money.
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Yes. It's problematic. It's definitely a high volume-low margin scheme. Basically hoping to make lots of $1 sales instead of a few $10 sales... A business acquaintance of mine once told me this; "James, remember, there are more people with $10 in their pocket than people with $20, and there are more people with $5 than people with $10.."

In the past it use to boggle my mind how an indie film maker would try to sell their film for $19.95, arguing that it was hard to make and they deserved to be compensated. I'd say "yeah but for the same price, they can get the latest Star Trek movie." Big difference.

... and when I hear these stories about Youtube paying pennies per viewing, well, that TOO low. To me, $1 is a reasonable amount to pay to watch a feature, no matter how low budget. If you choose to watch it, $1 is reasonable.

.. On the other hand, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime let you watch as many movies as you want for a low monthly fee.. You can watch movie for a month on their platform until you go blind for less than the cost of going to Mcdonalds for lunch one time.

Yeah, you're right........ maybe there really is no way to win.
 
Last time i went to a dr. office i took a book with me.

I got made fun of by the dr for having a physical book. lol.
He said he couldn't even remember the last time he saw someone hold a book instead of a tablet

IMO people only want tangible stuff representing pop culture phenomenons.
A lightsaber. Thors hammer. Hulks giant hand. stuff like that they can show off to all of their friends and guests, stuff they'll instantly recognize and go
" cool !! "
 
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Just suppose there was a streaming video service that specialized in Indie films.
Streaming video hosts are available to the masses. They have scale-able turnkey packages available for all kinds of ventures.
Imagine the time, money, and effort was put forth to set this up and get iy running. People could buy monthly subscriptions or a-la-cart purchases. The hosing company can accept payment, issue memberships and generate reports for all activities on the site.

Fast forward 1 year. The Indie streaming service has been advertised through social media, magazine ads, and other places where the Indie niche audience is presumed to hang out on-line.

Do you think a service like this would be well received by enough people to, at minimum, pay the monthly site fees? Let's say, a steady membership of 100 customers paying $5 a month to have access to 50 titles or more?

We have to define 'indie'
The cinematic equivalent of garage bands from back in the 70s and 80s. The $5,000 to $100,000 movies made by people who have more spirit than money. Films by Scoopicman, Holditnow films, Vince Rocco, SV Bell, Takahide Hori, Greg Parker, and even Mike Cervello (the indie equivalent of Tommy Wiseau).

I started this post feeling very optimistic but as I was typing I think I answered by own question. Sadly, my answer is no.

On the other hand, what do I know?
 
We have to define 'indie'
No you don't. Because it doesn't matter what you call indie, the public perception matters. In music it's actually a genre and nothing to do with money. In film, it's a marketing term like grunge. If you want to talk about budget and small filmmakers like you mentioned, use microbudget.
 
The average viewer wants big name Hollywood movies. And to the extent that they're occasionally willing to try something different, it has to be "free," meaning part of a bigger service and/or "free with ads."
Small budget + big star is a good formula for someone actually caring about watching anything you make.
 
Just suppose there was a streaming video service that specialized in Indie films.
Streaming video hosts are available to the masses. They have scale-able turnkey packages available for all kinds of ventures.
Imagine the time, money, and effort was put forth to set this up and get iy running. People could buy monthly subscriptions or a-la-cart purchases. The hosing company can accept payment, issue memberships and generate reports for all activities on the site.

Fast forward 1 year. The Indie streaming service has been advertised through social media, magazine ads, and other places where the Indie niche audience is presumed to hang out on-line.

Do you think a service like this would be well received by enough people to, at minimum, pay the monthly site fees? Let's say, a steady membership of 100 customers paying $5 a month to have access to 50 titles or more?

We have to define 'indie'
The cinematic equivalent of garage bands from back in the 70s and 80s. The $5,000 to $100,000 movies made by people who have more spirit than money. Films by Scoopicman, Holditnow films, Vince Rocco, SV Bell, Takahide Hori, Greg Parker, and even Mike Cervello (the indie equivalent of Tommy Wiseau).

I started this post feeling very optimistic but as I was typing I think I answered by own question. Sadly, my answer is no.

On the other hand, what do I know?
Someone is trying to do that with local content over here

I can't speak to it's success but I feel like there is an oversaturation of content and already too much stuff to watch for people that have jobs and families.

It might be possible to create a brand that resonates with quality microbudget films.. like there is criterion collection that rebrands old movies as being good and worthy enough to be in criterion. you could try to do something like that with a good assortment of indie movies people haven't heard of, maybe there is a market for it if someone can separate the wheat from the chaff.

but then again people don't seem to care much for movie critics or film recommendations these days
 
It takes a while to set in, at least for me, but all the evidence everywhere you look seems to point to the same inescapable conclusion; the season for micro-budget film makers has passed.
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Free cds!!............ $4 shipping and handling per cd.
This is still done to this day. A lot with commercials for FREE supplements to help your manhood or other things like that. Free this, that if you call within ____ minutes lol. Or the other one is, buy one get one free, just pay S&H for the second.

This crap even exists in warranties. Like, there's this lifetime warranty on Zagg phone glass protectors. They will send you a new one if yours breaks, for $7 shipping! LOL. Yeah, they sell them for $30 BUT make them for 75 cents. They even make a huge profit on their "free" replacements.
 
I don't know if this would work in today's world but it might be worth considering. Do people still value having something they can hold in their hands

It does in some contexts. At the music-and-dance events I go to - always live bands - most of the groups will have a CD to sell, sometimes several of them, and (priced from 8-15€ per disc) they usually sell quite well. Promoting her group's new album at one recent event, the lead musician specifically acknowledged that the whole concept of a physical CD is more-or-less obsolete for the general public these days, but she pointed out that the sales of each disc fund the production of the next one, and for the group, knowing that they're going to produce a set of tunes for the next one helps them decide on how their repertoire will evolve over the following few years.

Compared to film-making, that's quite a precise objective, and arguably more attainable; but the point about tangible product is the same.

In the same environment, in an effort to reduce single-use plastic cups the whole community has pretty much switched to using washable, re-usable hard plastic goblets in all the bars and beer-tents. 1€ deposit, refunded when you bring it back at the end of the night/weekend. Well guess what - people don't bring them back! If they're branded with the festival logo, they're kept as collectors items.
 
Just suppose there was a streaming video service that specialized in Indie films.

The fundamental flaw in this idea is that it'd more than likely be taken on by some "disruptive entrepreneur" who'd team up with a bunch of geeks to handle the necessary digital delivery, with an indie producer given the job of curating the library of films. And while said producer was quietly getting on with his or her work, trying to build a selection of decent quality works, the CEO would be hawking the idea to every venture capitalist in town, and working on an exit strategy that would almost certainly see the indie curator being swapped out for someone who had a better feel for "what the audience wants".

Were it to arise from a cooperative effort of indie producers, an unfortunately high number of previous examples (in all domains) suggests that it would sooner or later fall victim to the curse of "creative differences" ...
 
In the same environment, in an effort to reduce single-use plastic cups the whole community has pretty much switched to using washable, re-usable hard plastic goblets in all the bars and beer-tents. 1€ deposit, refunded when you bring it back at the end of the night/weekend. Well guess what - people don't bring them back! If they're branded with the festival logo, they're kept as collectors items.
Awesome!
 
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