Million Dollar Web TV News

How come I’m not surprised? Neither are you I reckon. But … what, in Reality, is Augmented Reality???

In Avatar, James Cameron’s epic SciFi movie, the director uses stereoscopic 3D technology to produce the film’s immersive special effects. With this evolutionary — yes, it IS evolutionary, not revolutionary — film making technique, Cameron could create, for the first time ever, photo-realistic computer-generated characters. How? By utilizing motion capture animation technology and observing directly on a monitor how the actors’ virtual counterparts interact with the movie’s digital world in real time, enabling him to adjust and direct the scenes just as if shooting live action.

Just like Cameron’s new technology, there is something new hitting the world of marketing: “Augmented Reality.” AR, as it is commonly known, is a hologram-like technology that allows you to interact with 3D images displayed on your monitor (Think Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie with R2-D2’s projection and the emphasis line “Help us Obi-Wan, you’re our only hope”). But…

Is AR ready for prime-time marketing?

We’ll know soon: 20th Century Fox and a plethora of other brands are testing this emerging technology as a marketing tool to promote the Dec. 18 release of Avatar. Why shouldn’t the marketers push the boundary with a film that is doing the same?

In recent months brands ranging from Lego to Topps trading cards to Toyota have experimented with AR. Now big boys like, McDonald’s and Coke Zero, are joining the bandwagon via a marketing partnership with Fox for their big movie event – Avatar.

Coke Zero is using an expansive program that includes a commercial, airing on TV as well as theaters, not to mention their digital site AVTR.com. Coke Zero is running and producing the site, with minimal branding, where consumers can go to utilize AR-enabled packaging created by Coke Zero.

Once you download an application from AVTR.com, you can simply hold up the can or bag to a webcam to get a virtual ride from one of the film’s main modes of transportation – a Samson Helicopter from the movie that Sully flies in – According to the trade, in some Asian countries theater lobby displays allow consumers to explore AR right on the spot. n

Outside of Coke there is the one and only, McDonald’s, employing a similar approach. Its campaign kicked off during the movie’s Dec. 18 opening weekend with a special Happy Meal that takes kids to an Avatar-branded site, that happens to be a quick service McWorld virtual world; and a young-adult-oriented Big Mac promotional tie-in, that redirects consumers to McDonalds.com/Avatar.

Other domestic Avatar marketing partners include Panasonic, the film’s technology partner LG, which also launched an Avatar-themed campaign for its new Projector Phone Dec. 11, and Mattel, which rolled out an Avatar line of action figures earlier this year.

But … isn’t 3D just an annoying distraction?

Have you seen the movie? Do you think 3D is just an annoying distraction that takes away from experiencing the film’s story? Could Augmented Reality be in the same boat, since its marketing value is yet to be determined? Is it a passing fad or truly useful in creating richer digital movie and marketing experiences?

You are the jury — let’s hear YOUR opinion.

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• ‘Avatar’ passes $1 billion worldwide (pbpulse.com)

A good ending to a tumultuous year, where another Chinese proverb — a curse, really — has ruled: “May you live in interesting times.”

With this in mind, I’m VERY grateful to all of our member advertisers who joined us in 2008, including InstaDocs.com, whose video ad is going onto our home station page today.

Here is to a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year to all of our members, visitors, and every good soul on this little planet of ours.

My personal wish? “May we not need to hear any more of fateful Chinese proverbs.”

Although the economy is in terrible shape, that doesn’t mean smart video publishers like you can’t continue to be successful in monetizing your content. Rolling with the punches now will set you up for dramatic growth once the economy turns around. When is that, you ask? 6-12 months in my estimation, if all goes well.

So how can YOU maximize your revenue in a down economy? Here are few pointers:

·  Be flexible with ad formats
Now is the time to engage with agencies and demonstrate your value. Even within the established ad types, marketers still like to experiment. When the budget makes sense, work with them on research studies. Provide engagement metrics. Try a variety of creative formats and work closely with your client to determine the most successful approach.

·  Optimize for performance
Even in video, click-through rate still matters. While many advertisers are satisfied to obtain strong reach adjacent to high-quality content, an equal or greater number are optimizing their campaigns based upon CTR and conversion. Use the tools at your disposal to strive for a 1% or higher CTR: turn off autoplay on your pre-roll. Study which sections of your site achieve the highest performance. Work with your agencies to learn which creatives are resonating best with your audience and see if you can shift delivery to those.

·  Keep your content fresh and advertiser-friendly
If your video becomes stale, it will lead to a downward spiral of click-through rates and impressions. Make sure you’re properly merchandising your new video throughout the site and give users the tools they need to share links with their friends.

·  Make sure users know about your latest and greatest
If you’re lucky enough to be a content creator, think about whether your video appeals to advertisers. Content doesn’t have to be “G-rated” — but keep in mind that the largest buys are still targeted to relatively general audiences.

·  Don’t panic (MUCH easier said than done?)
It is highly unlikely that you will ever completely sell out your video inventory. This is because inventory spikes (such as those which may result from breaking news or video going viral) are impossible to predict, and there are companies that are able to help fill those spikes.  

·  The Chinese word “crisis” also means opportunity
Approach this downturn as an opportunity to differentiate yourself. Consult more often with your advertisers and work hard (OK. even harder) to earn their business.

“Order-takers” might not survive this downturn, but smart media sellers will. I trust that will be YOU.

Here is an organization I just learned about and joined. They allow you to place your ad on their home page grid for free. What’s more, it doesn’t even have to be for a pay-per-pixel-site like us. Here is how our ad looks:



Not sure what their business model is, but thank them for the opportunity and wish them the best of luck.

Serendipity, I’d say. After doing a post on vLogDir.com, and thanking its progenitor, “Sull” Michael Sullivan, we received an instant email from him.

Turns out he owns MillionDollarVideopage.com too! And, since he hasn’t had the time to develop it, he, truly unselfishly, put a link on it to our site.

THANK YOU, Sull!

Don’t forget to check out:

1. His video blog domain names listed on his VodCasts.com site, if you’re looking for a catchy name for your video blog site to be.

2. His video blog directory, to get YOUR video site or blog listed

3. The latest posting about him on MakeiTV.com

Just purchased the domain name, MillionDollarWeb.TV, at the suggestion of Michael Coley, a ShareASale - JRami Consulting affiliate.

We have it set up to forward visitors to this site. Thanks Michael and Jorge for the suggestion and follow-up!

Had some spare moments, so I created the video logo below for it.

[vsocial 93812 nolink]

Cybercast credit: itv21.com, one of our iTV channels in the making.

JRami Consulting and Million Dollar Web TV will break ground as the first affiliate program to bring 1,000,000 (One million) pixels into the affiliate marketing space.

Now anyone can have a home on the Internet for their video ads and clips and keep them there for the next 10 years, minimum. They can select 100 to 1,000 to 10,000 or more pixels at $1/pixel for their images to showcase their videos.

Affiliates will not only also be able to add their own videos, but will also be given the opportunity to sell any one of those million pixels, either all in one day or all in one month. There’s no limit, that is until the million pixels are sold.

The great buzz about Million Dollar Web TV’s affiliate program has begun. J.Rami Consulting and Million Dollar Web TV are giving away more than $25,000.00 in bonuses just to start. Sign up here.

UPDATE: We are also trying to make our Home Station Page into a “floating” page, so we can center everything on large 16:9 ratio HDTV screens too. You’ll see the result hopefully soon.

June, one of my partners in charge of marketing, showed the rest of us ignoramuses the latest statistics about high definition tv (yes, HDTV) and computer monitor sales some three months (eons?) ago. She was intoning, with a missionary’s zeal:

“Digital convergence is now combining the functions of HDTV and computer monitors into one device, in the 16:9 screen dimensional ratio. Sales of these HDTV monitors are climbing fast, making the single function computer monitor obsolete. Here, watch what Robin Heron and Patrick Norton of Digital Life TV, affectionately known in geekdom as DL.TV have to say about everything HDTV:

So. What are YOU going to do about it???” she demanded to know.

We squirmed. (Not really.) “Good question. What do YOU propose we do about it???????” Million Dollar Web TV will be operational for 10+ years. What are we to do about it? We could / should / might / may:

1. Change the home station page ad grid layout to 1250 x 800 pixels.
2. Redesign the other pages to conform to this ratio.

So we have. Our developers outdid themselves – all in midstream of building the site. They probably – surely? – call me a slave driver. If that’s what it takes… I can handle that… especially from thousands of miles away….

Broadcast credit: Google Video

Jorge is starting to promote Million Dollar Web TV on his ABW forum. Here is his latest posting. No need for me to add anything to it. Thanks Jorge!

After countless hours wracking our brains, we discovered the obvious:

1. We need to move very quickly to sell our ad space once the site becomes operational

2. To make this happen, we have to find and deploy a qualified online sales force

3. To achieve that, we must find and utilize the best affiliate program(s)

4. We should have the program managed by a true professional

Having done our due diligence, we have chosen Jorge Ramirez, and his company,

JRami.com, to design and execute a full marketing program for us. A major component of this being an affiliate program, of course. According to Jorge:

“An affiliate program is really your outside sales team driving targeted traffic to your web site. Having an affiliate program will expand your web reach exponentially. With thousands of other web sites talking about your products and services and branding you, you’ll reach more people with the right message than you ever dreamed possible. And you don’t have to pay affiliates until they make sales.

And starting an affiliate program is not as difficult as you may think. But choosing the correct strategy and affiliate network requires experience and the time to get it done right. Finding the right affiliate partners is also critical. The right affiliate team makes all the difference in the world. You’ll find that 20% of your affiliates will drive 80% of your affiliate business.

Managing your affiliate partners is also important. It helps to know their key issues and favorite tools and where they can be reached. It helps to also have the experience of being an affiliate yourself. As in any relationship, trust and respect only come from shared experiences and common goals and the willingness to work together.

A key ingredient for any successful merchant is having a site that offers a great shopping experience. Online customers want the tools they need to find what they want. They want to know that their purchases will be secure and will arrive when expected.”

In this vein, at Jorge’s suggestion, we already redesigned the Place Initial Ad / Video page,

to make it really easy to order. He also started to include a link in his signature block on the affiliate forums for Million Dollar Web TV. Way to go!

Thank you Jorge – we do look forward to a very successful partnership!