How To DVDs, Great Potential

by Heidi Mueller

In this post I want to show why I believe making How To DVDs is a video business with good income potential.

Basic Concept

Basically you take a topic that you are an expert at, break it down into 6 to 10 sections covering the different aspects of the topic. You then videotape yourself explaining these aspects. Finally you put the resulting 6 – 10 short video clips on a DVD with a menu allowing people to either view all the sections in sequence or view just the specific section they are interested in.

The DVD is then packaged in a library case with proper professional graphics and offered for sale over the Internet.

Income Potential
The videography is very basic, mostly shot in one location so it is very easy to do. In general you would spend one week to develop and rehearse the storyboard, i.e. writing the short sections. Then allow another week for videotaping, and another week for editing and creating the DVD and graphics. Give yourself a week to put a sales page together for your website. So this amounts to about a month’s worth of work.

Now assuming that your topic is of sufficient interest you could expect to sell about 1000 copies. If you made a net profit on each DVD sold of $20, that would result in $20,000 for a month’s work – not bad!

The principle involved is shoot once, sell many times.

Caveats
One downside is that you will not be earning any money during the month of making the DVD – the money will only come in once you start selling DVDs.

The success of the concept will depend on your choice of how to topic. The more specialized the topic, the smaller your potential market. Your success will also depend on how much effort you put into marketing your DVD.

The estimate of one month will depend on your experience. If you have never created a DVD with menus, it might well take you a bit longer than a month. But as you gain experience, you will probably take less time on your next projects.

Special Interest DVDs

A somewhat similar concept is to make special interest DVDs. Again, it is a matter of shoot once, sell many times. However, special interest DVDs have other challenges that I will address in a future post.

Heidi Mueller is the owner-operator of HMueller Design in New Westminster, BC. The author is also an associate of Video StoryTellers!™ an international video services and branding program, and a guest writer for E.C. Come, E.C. Go a video marketing and production blog by Earl Chessher. Earl is a moderator and writer for Videomaker Magazine and forums, owner and developer for Video StoryTellers! (click link for info on participating in VST) and owner/operator of CorElAnn Video Productions in Southern California.

Remember: If you market, you will make it! © 2010 Earl Chessher