Monday, September 29, 2008
How to Go About Advertising
Many of you are advertising on your DVDNow machines. How do you go about Advertising and what do you see working and what kind of fees do you charge? Any ideas would greatly be appreciated.
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47 comments:
Great Question Chet:
Our business has developed into seveal different key areas. First of all, we do advertise on our machines. We advertise both in the slot and on the 20 inch screen on top of the machine. Our package includes several customized areas such as: Building a web page for our client, purchasing a URL for the client and then enhancing their search placement for their business. We upload key elements such as "menus", prices, products and just about anything they want. We also have moved into another area that has become quite popular. We'll shoot a video commercial, upload it to our clients website and upload it to Youtube. I've finally discovered how to get our videos to work in "high quality" on Youtube so it looks clean and neat. We have invested in some high end equipment that also enables us to record functions such as weddings too. About anything you can think of we'll record it with our CANON XL2.
One thing I believe in is that if my customer has to pay me more than what they get back in return on their investment, then I'm charging too much. As far as pricing goes, I'm probably to inexpensive, but I also know that my customer won't get disappointed. I've even got one customer that's sponsoring my little boy in his Motorcross functions this year. My end of this has developed into an online enterprise as well as the kiosk adverstising slot and video screen. This is a vital part of your business that you should really look into. Rod Dudzinski has some really neat ideas that he's developing too. You should get in touch with him. I'll let Rod know that you inquired and maybe he'll drop some comments into this blog.
Here's His info:
Rod Dudzinski
Seabright Media Communications
rod@seabrightmedia.com
831-336-0500 (O)
831-334-7186 (C)
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
I am struggling with the monitor to put on top of the units. The monitor's I have tried did not produce the quality of picture I am looking for. I am assuming that advertisers want their ads to look professional in a near HD quality. I understand the unit does not push HD but I am looking for a better picture than I am getting. Any reccomendations on monitors??
Good question, I haven't been able to load over 100 megs on the UMG channel. I really didn't think to ask anyone about it because I thought it had limits. To get the near HD quality, I've had to compress my videos. Here's what I did:
I loaded the freeware that I have on the right side of my blog. I saved the video as an AVI file in 720x480. From there, I went to the DVD VideoSoft -Youtube to Ipod converter that runs the image at 640x480 and drops the frames per second to 24. I was able to squeeze the video in as a higher resolution video that way. If you do it on Youtube, you'll see what I mean. go to my youtube channel and see for your self. YOu'll want to see where it says "watch in high quality" HERES MY CHANNEL. Hope that gives you a better idea:
http://www.youtube.com/user/readydvd
Mike
http://readydvd.com
HI, I am looking at monitors to buy for my two kiosks that are not on location yet. It concerns me that there might be a problem with the quality of the ads on the monitor as I want that to be a big part of my revenue. Has anyone asked the folks at DVD NOW about this problem?
Diane,
The quality of the video you are going to play depends on a couple of key factors.
1. The quality of the video that you upload into UMG
2. The quality of the monitor.
I don't have the highest quality monitors, but they work just fine if I upload my videos in a higher quality.
Download the freeware in the lower right hand corner. Then reread the blog on top of your posting. I kind of explained how to do it. I am not sure if DVDNow would help you do this or not.
What software are you using to do your ads? Are your ads already done? What format are you uploading and what screen resolution?
Has anyone thought of or have done their own advertising for the kiosk them self and display it on the screen. I mean video tape your self or someone else in front of your kiosk and go through the steps of a rental and sale. Kind of like an instructional video. This may ease people on how easy it is and draw more people to it. May also be a good way to test your screen.
I have a 20" in my kitchen I have to take down and get it in the store. I would hate to loose the light box. Maybe the store can hang it in the window.
I just went online this past Thursday at 7:30pm. In the hour and 1/2 on Thurs (they close at 9:00) and Friday I had 9 rentals. Is this good for my 1st day?
Yes, we have done advertising on our Kiosk. We do our own videos and upload them. Here is a sample of what we did for the advetising end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo2RWsOAyo4
We customize the ad on the Kiosk for the advertiser. Here is another one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWwckGDY8Tc
We try to get videos that people can get glued to on the screen. There are several others that we do too. I have just uploaded all these to Youtube to enhance all of my customers' chances of being found online too.
There's no need to take down the light box! I like it. If you look up on the top right corner of this blog, you'll see that I have a screen sticking over the top of the light box.
I bought a $10.00 shoe organizer from Target, put it together and it fits perfectly on the top of the machine. I drill two bolts trough the base of the screen stand and it fits snuggly to the shoe shelf. I drilled a couple of holes in the side (top) of the machine (right no the outer edge) so that the whole shoe shelf doesn't come off the machine if it's bumped. If you buy some small brackets to hole shelves up and use them to hold the shoe shelf down on top, it works awesome. I wouldn't take down the light sign at all. Your screen will peek over the top of the light box and people all over will be able to see it.
Mike
http://readydvd.com
So what brand of TV do you all use for the monitor? DVD NOW just told me that an HD tv wouldn't work. I need a regular tv with DVD. Joe what have you tried so far with or without success? Perhaps I could save a few trial and error mistakes here if I know what didn't work for you or Mike.
I have regular RCA 20" screens on top of my Kiosk. I just upload my commercials differently from the regular trailers. Also, most of these folks see your commercials several feet away from the machine. The commericals (in low res) are easier to see several feet away. When folks move to the Kiosk, the tend to look at the small screen on the machine.
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
I have a basic Samsung 20" LCD in my kitchen I didn't try yet. Might get to it this weekend. I'll let you know.
Mike
I got the shoe organizer from Target and will put it up tonight. I first want to know how deep the the bolts or screws went you put into the machine. I'm a little weary about drilling into the machine. And the shelf brackets are regular shelf holders from Home Depot?
Thanks
Joe
First, set the shelf on top of your machine and make sure it's going to make your screen poke over the light. I popped very small holes in the top edge of the machine. The screws are only about 3/4 of an inch long. As I said, they are right at the very outer edge of the machine. They will not and do not hinder anything in the machine. One little hole and any little screw will go in. The L brackets hold the whole shelf and screen down securely.
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
The screen is up and working fine. It's a 20" Samsung flat LCD and is about 2 years old. The picture looked great in my kitchen. Not as good showing trailers but thats due to the quality of the trailer. The dark scenes on Iron Man are very dark but otherwise It's better than the tiny screen on the machine.
So is the shelf secure? Did you drill the tiny holes? Does it peak over the top?
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
The shoe holder is the same height as the light sign. It sits just right. You can see the bottom of the screen at about 3 feet away. It's secure with 2 16" sheetmetal brackets found in home depot in the hardware section. They have a bunch of holes in them and are easy to bend but strong enough to do the job. Screwed a 3/4" screw into the side along the top edge and bent it 90 degrees and put another screw in the top of the shoe holder. Secured the stand to the shoe holder with package tape around the shelf about 10 times on each side.
My only complaint is how dark the picture is. I increased the brightness on the tv but it didn't help.
Sounds awesome! Did you tilt the screen up top forward any? I put a block in the back and put it under the base of the Screen holder. I then bolted the screen down by drilling a hole through the middle of the screen base to the shelf. It makes it easier to see the screen. I had the dark screen too for a little while until I tilted it forward and bolted it down.
You'll have to send a picture when you get a chance so I can post it at the bottom of our blog.
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
HI, I have the opportunity to put a kiosk in a mall but with DVD games not movies. Anyone got any comments regarding whether this is a good idea or not?
Great Questions Diane! It deserves it's own thread. Look over at the left of the screen to answer the question Folks.
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
What do you think about putting a machine in a hospital where both employees and clients can rent from?
I took your question and dropped it in the Location Questions part of the blog. I think it's an awesome place if all the rooms have DVD Players in them..
Sounds like a great place...
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
We have placed 22 in. Vizio TV's on top of all 5 of our machines. These have worked really well so far and are very inexpensive. You can pick them up at Walmart for under $300.
We have also uploaded HD quality movie trailers to the UMG website under the name of "tetondvd". These look really good on the larger screens. When you are "editing" you channel just look for the trailers with the largest file size.
We have also started placing Advertisements in between each movie trailer. We have seen great success with this so far.
Ryan
http://www.tetondvd.com
Ryan
Glad to see the success with your advertising. I need to get started with the advertising. How do you get customers to advertise? Do you mail brochures or visit businesses? How are you doing with static 5x7 diplays and case inserts?
I may have to try a new screen, the darkness of the trailers is killing me. I emailed DVDnow support 3 times to ask them if there is a brightness control inside the machine but they don't answer my emails.
Thank you
Joe
I'm wondering what the going rate is for DVD case insert advertising. I see a lot of rates for the multimedia and static ads but none for the inserts. I'm making flyers and I'm stuck at this part. Even if I leave prices off the flyer I want to be prepared when someone calls for a price.
Good Question Joe. I guess I was wondering how you would make sure there was slot insert art in the videos all the time without someone taking the insert. What I do, is stick a 3.5 x 3.5 Address Label on the other side of the DVD that advertises our website and some other stuff found on the site. That creates traffic online for me. I am averaging roughly 70 customers a day on the website. I've had over 100 on the weekend. As far as pricing goes, I think you'd have to set up a contract and do the sticky thing (don't you)? Keep us all in the loop how you are going to do this..
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
It seems like this question has been asked a couple times, but I haven't seen a good answer...
How do you FIND people who want to advertise on the kiosks? I've asked DVDNow and they don't seem to have any literature geared at finding businesses to advertise on your kiosk. Do you send out a letter? Email? Door-to-Door? Newspaper Ad?
I'm interested to learn what other people have done to secure paid advertisers (whether it's static, video, or inserts).
I approach businesses and flat out ask them. I don't know what anyone else would do. You just have to ask them if they are interested. You better have a method that you use though. Put on your selling shoes and just go and show them the benefits to advertising with you. I also do a lot of work with videos that they can see on Youtube. I enhance their google placement. Plus, I hardly charge anything for it. Why? because they can't afford to say no "now" or in the future. Anytime an advertiser gives back more than what they charge, the customer can't lose.
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
Do you have any sort of literature that you give to the potential client? Like a sell sheet?
Depending on the business, I usually put something together before I visit with the person that I am going to try and advertise for. I also provide examples of what I've done with others so they get an idea what I can do for them. I don't only sell slots on the machine. I give them a variety of packages that I customize for them after the first meeting. Everyone has special talents and I just happen to bring together some of the things I enjoy doing into the advertising world. I have a list of ways my customer can advertise and I let them choose. If I was you, I'd find potential people you want to advertise for. Show them that you can put their ads on your machine and have it play after each trailer. Show them the slots that you are going to limit to adverting customers. Put a big screen on top of your machine so people notice it and then get your advertising business going. If you are priced right, you'll get people to advertise on it. Why do you think grocery stores are going to the advertising screens? Because it works... Make it work for you...
Start simple and build on what you have. The key is to start with your machine. Work from the machine out into other areas. BUT, the machine is your base.
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
I have a pdf file of a flyer on my website, www.myezdvd.com I will be sending to business in the area around the kiosk.
I have someone who is thinking about the insert ads. Anyone have suggestions for fees.
Is sales tax charged when selling advertising?
Thank You
We don't have sales tax in MT. I don't see how you could charge sales tax for a advertising? You aren't buying a product. You are basically renting a service.
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
Our customers aren't buying a product either... they're renting a service but I still have to charge sales tax in MN.
Check with your state's Department of Revenue. They can tell you what services are taxable.
Mike I see a cut out of Iron man and some movie sales display boxes by your Kiosk in Forsyth.
Where did you get them?
Curtis
Curtis,
Ingram sent them to the stores. I actually moved this machine this week. Long story with lots of promises and no delivery. I moved the machine to a store in Wyoming.
Mike
Mike its Diane. We have been to our target and don't see anything like what you are describing. Please can someone post a picture of the shoe organizer you are using so we can try and find it somewhere? We have 2 TVs we need to get mounted. Thanks so much
Mike, here is what was $10 at target and sears. Is this it?
Here is the link: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00891627000P
If that is not it, maybe someone could send me the link to what is the right shoe organizer?
Diane,
It's made out of wood. It has a little shelf in the middle of it.
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http:readydvd.com
Mike I think our problem is that we haven't found a wood shoe rack with a shelf in the middle of it. I even looked online at all shoe organizers at walmart, target and sears and they don't show something like that. At least we know now that we are not crazy. Hve to find someway to mount these tvs though. thanks. Diane
Wanted to let everyone know I found a great deal on a flat screen TV at sears Sylvania 20" Mod number LC200SL9 for $200 bucks it has speakers on the side and a remote, they are on sale until Jan 30th
Where?
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
Has anybody run into your location owners or managers having a problem with you selling advertising space in their store? I have had some opposition from my location owner about who can advertise on the kiosk. If so, how have you overcome these objections.
Thanks,
Zack
Z--Machine DVD
Unless the advertising is taking business away from the store that you have your machine, why would anyone have a problem with it? As long as it's in good taste and doesn't hurt the host store, they shouldn't be upset with you. One thing I do is customize the machine with the location it's in. For example, I video taped the 4th of July Parade in Roundup, MT and played it every half hour on their machine. They loved it!
Sincerely,
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
Thanks for the reply,
The owner is concerned because they are a pharmacy and they don't want to offend a long time customer (say who owns a restaurant) by having another restaurant advertise in the kiosk. I have suggested to them that I would offer the space to their favorite customers first. They received this well but were still concerned. I think I am going to give them a little time to get used to the kiosk and then push the advertising a little more. . Do you use the suggested advertising rates that DVD Now provides? I set up a flyer with prices at about half of what they suggest due to the fact that I am in a small town. Any ideas on the rates you guys charge would be helpful, especially you guys in the smaller towns.Thank you for all of your ideas. If anybody wants to use or see some of the artwork I have created , FNF Coupons, Advertising flyers, side art, etc. let me know I would be happy to oblige. I have received so much great info from you guys I would love to be able to contribute in some way.
Thanks,
Zack
I'm working on getting my advertising going too, Zack. I've got 2 different ideas. One is to lower the price and sell as many as I can, the other is to limit the number of ads available (only the top 4 windows on the side panels, only 6 or 8 or 10 video ads on the screen) and push the 'premium availability' angle to charge a little more.
I was on the road yesterday and thought of an idea about case inserts and wanted to throw it out there for ya'll. What about sponsoring a movie? Sell the insert in a particular movie just for that movie.
Example:
I only order 2 copies of a movie (a majority of the time), and usually 2-3 titles a week. So offer an advertiser the 'movie sponsorship' for say $20, and their ad insert stays in that movie for as long as it is in the machine. That way you've paid for one of your two movies, plus you don't have to go in and switch all the inserts if you sell it by the month. Each movie gets it's own insert 'for life'. I'd say you could offer discounts for volume orders, like all movies for a week, or a month, or for so many movies a month total.
Audio Question for DVDNow Kiosk
Some of the movie trailers are louder than other, which I'm certain is in the quality of the upload, download, etc...
I've left the volume setting at 9 and at 10 - the speaker(s) sounds bad, but I wanted to know if anyone has additional audio speakers on top of their machine in addition to a video monitor?
Todd in Texas
yes, the speakers in the machine aren't that great. We have a large screen on top that has plenty of volume.
Mike Weiland
http://readydvd.com
Does anyone know of a company that will sell your advertising for you? I work full time and do not have time to go around to businesses.
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