The inverse proportion rule

SIV's can be one of the most lucrative ways of making money from video. Some people have literally made their fortunes from making videos on specialist subjects. So, that's that then. Let's all grab our cameras and make a DVD about pottery or horse grooming.

If only it were that simple. Having had many discussions with my fellow ranter, Nigel Cooper, over at DV User it seems that we have settled upon a rule. The rule of inverse proportion. It is a rule that you will be able to follow very simply when planning an SIV product. Firstly you need to do your market research. You need to get an indication from people as to how many customers you are likely to create. Is there a demand for your product?

During the course of this you may receive several hundred enquiries about your DVD. This is of course very good. You'll be a millionaire in no time. Or will you? No, I'm afraid not. You see people have habit of telling you whether or not they would find your DVD useful, and NOT whether they will actually plonk down the green stuff in order to purchase it once it has been released. Usually the more useful your idea, the less people will actually make a purchase. After all, usually the most useful and informative subjects are the ones that people would rather have their teeth pulled at the dentist rather than sit in front of the television and watch.This pretty much rules out most possible SIV subjects ever made or are likely to be made. Yes, that's right, most SIV's barely make their replication costs back, let alone the production costs. Here are my learned rules for SIV production (although my caveat is that I have yet to prove them!):

1. Find a subject that has a rabid following. Sounds obvious doesn't it? But what this essentially boils down to, and I have to give Nigel credit for this rule, is that nobody is interested in your hobby of pencil collecting. Obviously by all means make one if collecting sex toys is your thing, there may be a niche market there waiting to be tapped.
2. If people tell you that they would find your DVD subject matter useful do not under any circumstances embark on actually making the thing!
3. If you come across any statistics that suggest that your DVD might sell really well, don't believe them.
4. If you get loads of email enquiries about your product stop production immediately!

Feel free to add more rules below for your commercial DVD sales adventures.

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