Fun with food
This is one of those things I’m surprised no one has done this yet (or maybe they have and I just haven’t seen it.)
Here’s the premise:
By far, the biggest expense involved in producing video for the web is producing the video. No matter how you slice it, the time and money involved are significant
Currently – and who knows how long this will last – there is a lot of online video on a wide variety of topics being made available absolutely free. Just cut and paste some code and presto! You’ve got fully produced video for your web site. It’s that easy…
Google Video offers this, so does YouTube, as does one of my favorite video sites TurnHere.com
Right now I see lots of "everything but the kitchen sink" video
sites. And that’s fine as long as video on the Internet is a novelty.
Eventually though people are going to want to "tune in" to web sites that address their specific interests.
The beauty of Internet TV, as I see it, is we can now have TV channels on virtually any topic under the sun.
For fun, I picked food, one of my favorite subjects.
Whenever I travel, I love to try out new restaurants and visit local
food markets. The demand for this kind of content is big enough that it
supports one full blown cable channel: The Food Network.
Could there be a business in building and operating an Internet TV food network?
Maybe.
I don’t need a new business, but rather than wait for someone else
to do it, I decided to start an Internet TV food network myself as a
demonstration of what’s possible.
Here are my costs so far:
1. Video zero (provided free by TurnHere.com)
2. Video Hosting zero (provided free by TurnHere.com)
3. Site hosting less than $1 per month (I’ve already got the servers)
4. Labor $20 per channel for coding and web work (7 channels) – $140.00
My monetization strategy…
None at the moment, but I could easily add an article to each
channel and generate some AdSense revenue. I’d probably also add an
opt-in process and start a mailing list. I’ve put price tags on the
domain names (You never know.)
But like I said, I’m not looking for a new business. I just wanted to go where no man has gone before, a hobby of mine 🙂
Note to people who get their knickers in a knot about monetizing every breath they take…
Sometimes you just do things just for the sake of doing them.
In fact, many of the people I know who now have eight, nine, and
yes, even ten figure net worths, spent a lot of time hacking around
before they came up with their big idea. (Google is just one of the
most recent examples.)
You see my out of pocket costs. My total time: about one hour. At
this rate, I can afford the occasional experiment – and so can you.
Introducing: FoodFinds TV.com
What do YOU think?
Ken McCarthy
P.S. Do you want to be notified when new articles like this one are posted to the blog?
It’s easy. Just go to this page and we’ll add your name to our bulletin list:
http://www.internetvideomarketingletter.com/
I see so clearly what you are saying about interactive Internet TV. I agree with you that this is going to be huge! Thanks for sharing such an excellent demonstration of the principle. I am here in San Diego, CA following you.
Ah, right up my alley!
I’m ready to hop on a plane and hit Clement St. again.
But where’s Chicago in that list? Next time you’re here, hit Milwaukee Avenue, Harlem Avenue or Devon Avenue for some fun. Like most cities, we hide our best spots from the tourists.
Clement Street was what convinced me I could move from New York to San Franciso without starving (or having to eat mall food.)
It’s also got one of the best little used bookstores in the world, another criteria.
The village I live in now has only 1,300 residents, but five restaurants and I can walk to them all (Mexican, American, Vegetarian, Japanese, Irish pub food) A sixth one is on the way.
Amazon let me to cut the book umbilical cord and move to the country.
Life without good books is almost as bad as life without good food (almost.)
Yes on Chicago, it’s an awesome food town, but TurnHere hasn’t made a video about it yet. I like the Frontera Grill and Bin 36.
I can see other intriguing possibilities for sites such as yours.
TurnHere and YoutTube must have other city-kinds of videos – perhaps tours of historic sites, or museums, or parks/botanical gardens/arboretums/zoos.
Lots to see from the cozy comfort of a computer, IPod. PDA, or cell phone. Or to preview before choosing to venture out in one direction or another. Chambers of Commerce should be doing this, if they aren’t already.
Nice work Ken.
There are Sooo many possibilities. This is a great example.
BTW, I agree about Frontera/Topolobampo. The next time I go out for the System (if you have it in Chicago again) I’m going to have to stay a few extra days and do some dining again.
Keep the great material coming.
Sam
The site is fun, simple and clean. Full marks on usability.
I like the “Domain for Sale” idea. Like what you said Ken, “You never know…”
I see this as a trend worth venturing. If I were you Ken, I would start a course on how to build a site such as FoodFindsTV.com from scratch.
Ken has chicagofoodtv.com covered. He also has some other interesting areas/topics covered with TV in the domain name.
Rick
We just found some Chicago food content and it should be live today at chicagofoodtv.com.
Chicago IS a great food town, one of the best.
A mini course on the technical aspects would be great.
I’ve been saving a video idea for a while that would work with this except I want to charge for the download.
Also, do you think viewers are going to put up with low production values (the light was so poor I couldn’t see who was talking)?
To get good content, we’re probably going to have to pay for it–right now everyone is willing to spend a little to learn how but they’re not gonna do it for free for long. IMHO
Chicago is a great food town.
Here’s how important a food town it is.
By coincidence, the National Restaurant Show takes place at the McCormick Convention center every year in Chicago. It happens to be on the same weekend you’ve held the System the last two years.
This means getting a reservation to dine out in Chi Town that weekend can require scheduling 2-3 months ahead!
God I love great food!
Sam
http://www.internethowtovideos.com
Brilliant Ken, that’s really thinking outside the square. Brilliant!
Great minds think alike… ‘cos even more exciting is that I purchased a series of domain names about 1-2 months ago, with the aim of offering restaurant reviews on them.
Never even thought about video reviews – which is heaps better!!! 😉
Way to go man.
Eran Malloch
http://EranMalloch.com