Hello Moderators,
Here we’ll track all ideas/concepts. Lets talk about whats needed at the site. This includes bugs, glitches, anything you can think of.
Rupert
CharlieFrancis.com
Hello Moderators,
NNTP at CharlieFrancis.com? NNTP is a news server. I’m working on a piece of code that will allow the forum to talk to a news server and vice versa.
I feel this is suitable for those who like the newsgroups, millions of users world wide!
The working URL(s) I’ve got in mind for various purposes are as follows:
videos.charliefrancis.com (video uploads/streaming media)*
news.charliefrancis.com (nntp server)
*maybe a pay function?
Thoughts?
Rupert
CharlieFrancis.com
A high quality video upload capability would be a huge success. It would also be cool to couple this with Charlie’s commentary on biomechanics, etc as a learning/analysis tool (perhaps at a premium.)
We are currently setup for streaming media, I was thinking of a “training on demand” type of scenerio where you can perhaps by a membership (reasonable yearly fee, or monthly) which would give you access to an online video library.
The problem
Quality video takes time to produce, and uploading of copywritten materials is a big no-no.
Thoughts?
Rupert
As requested, here are my ideas.
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Advertising. An advertising program needs to be initiated, even if all it does it pay for itself (as compared to making a profit). Once it is off the ground, prices can be increased. Of course I refer once again to www.sherdog.com who has a new feature where an advertisement comes up prior to naviagting from one page to the next. With the way that they have it set up, I do not mind it one bit. It is not like an annoying pop up. At any time the navigator can skip to the next page.
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Virtual Reality seminars. Nuff said.
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Get rid of (delete) useless threads.
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User ratings should be done away with. At one point I had more rep points than Charlie, and there were some who had little clue about training who had more than me.
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Moderator Bios. Short ones. This is more of an idea than a suggestion.
That is all for now.
Sounds good but tell us more about virtual reality seminars? Have you seen this in action?
we got to address the fact that members are turning up day in day out asking the same questions.whats tempo…whats running A’s etc.
we are all sick of saying check the threads.
suggestion…glossary whether its written or a sequence of photos to demonstate.
lets work on the basics and build on it.
How to get a glossary?
It would make a good resource. I also think CFTS is a good starting point…however its not free.
Almost everything an athlete needs is covered in CFTS.
Thoughts?
Rupert
Perhaps a CF wikipedia to help define terms and key concepts?
Change of direction
Charlie and I have been discussing getting more involved in video. Our ideas are as follows…
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Streaming video: We’re looking into ways to get our current DVDs made available for download in the most efficient manner. In addition, we WILL be producing content on a regular basis. Any ideas on format here would be great, what do YOU think our members want to see? Any and all input here is appreciated.
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Content Providers: If you wish to get video content made available (tutorials, full length features) please let us know. If you need help getting started, just post here in the moderators thread. Get content online and get paid…very nice.
My thinking is its high time for a video library. Cost for this service will be $9.99 USD per month, per member. This will facilitate our creation of content on a weekly basis, giving our members the best, most useful training experience online.
Thoughts?
Rupert
CharlieFrancis.com
i definitley think the online video library would be great.whats covered is another thing but the idea is great.also from a business point of view would you be better off charging everyone 9.99 to view the vids or stick with the current price of the dvds as done at the moment.
ie if you can get $50per dvd x100 members=50k
or take $9.99 pm x 40-50 members (as not everyone wil pay)
personally i think the online idea is great but not everyone will accept it or have the money to pay…!!!
thoughts
Ge I wish your math was right!! But, sadly 50 x 100 is 5000
The key to a subscription based service will be making sure there is always new content in order to motivate people to keep subscribing. Also, are you planning on allowing subscribers to save the video content on their own machine or only view it?
I actually see some parallels here between the iTunes model and the new Napster model. Personally I like the iTunes model better (and, in music at least) it has been significantly more successful.
We have a video upload function built already, any ideas how to deploy it?
Rupert
:o :o :o :o thanks god i’m not a bank teller or id be verry popular to deal with
I like the Itunes model also, my thinking was a video library that would be updated weekly with content not just from us, but from others also. This would be an ideal way for content providers (coaches/trainers) to showcase their skills and make some money also.
Each segment would run 20 minutes in length and would be made available by download from our store. The upside here is near instant delivery of training materials.
Thoughts?
Rupert
This is just a stream of conciousnesss so i’m not sure if it will make sense but…
The download of video instead of DVDs would be good because you won’t have the problems associated with mailing out the DVDs and dealing with complaints and the long shipping times.
The problem will be the quality issue. I guess you can put an entire movie onto about 500mb of DIVX bandwidth but how much does this cost you? Will the profit margins be as high as the DVDs?
The subscription idea is a good one but then as the site fills up people could pay $9 and download the entire site and then cut off subscriptions so perhaps different levels of membership allow different content and fee rates would be a good idea?
e.g. $50 a month gets you free downloads and 2 video analysis feedback from Charlie.
$30 means you pay $5 a download and 1 video analysis from Charlie.
$10 means $15 download and pay per video analysis…
If someone has downloaded the video they can get the DVD for 40% off or something if they want a “Hard” copy.
The member/senior member/moderator idea would also be a good idea here. The longer someone stays subscribed the lower the prices?
Also audio commenatry from Charlie would be good on a specific topic. Personally i love listening to his stories and it saves him on the typing (i guess not his forte!). So submit a video for upload or a list of questions and charlie provides a 5min feedback via voice for $10 or something (Thats $200 an hour if you get quick at it Charlie!). Other people on the site can also view the clip and provide feedback and discuss it.
As for specific content. Speed and Strength 1 is a good example. You can split it into 4 sections and charge per section. Derek Hansens stuff on olympic lifting would sell very well. As would Charlie’s explanation and examples of starts.
What questions do people ask the most? How can we answer them?
All this content could also be discussed on the forum so you hype/market the subscriptions via the forum.
Also the idea that if members make videos they can share in the profits is a good idea. You could get other people involved who can discuss different areas for example supplements (Clemson), gait analysis, massage/therapy (Mike Prebeg), OmegaWave (Pawski). This would open the site upto a whole new audience and provide coaches with more info related to these areas. Its a good marketing area for other people’s products as well. People line up to go on World Talk Radio - if you have the audience you can sell them to others.
Online conferences would also be a possability. Do the presentation part of the conference and post it. Then answer questions via Skype or something like that and record them and post them afterwards.
As far as I’m concerned you have a niche market that needs information. If you can provide added value then people will pay. I’d pay. God based on what I heard at the UK Sprints Conference there are coaches all over the UK who would pay.
Its all about added value. How do you get more than just words - visual, auditory information? How do you make it specific to the user? How do you get them involved in the site so they feel it is an investment in thier future?
I’m not sure I understand. I think there are a number of options:
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Each 20 minute video is available for instant purchase/downoad at a fixed cost (<$10?) to anyone. No subscription necessary. This is essentially the iTunes model. Advantage: nice for users. Can download video to watch without access to the Internet. Disadvantage: revenue stream is less predictable than with a subscription model.
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You pay a monthly subscription fee (again, <$10?) and have access to all videos in the library for as long as your subscription is active. No downloading…if you let the subscription laspe, you lose access to the videos. This is essentially the new Napster model. However, they have some complicated protection schemes that enable limited downloading (but you still lose access when your subscription expires. Advantage: Potential for a more constant revenue stream for cf.com could help to fund development of new content. Disadvantage: Customers generally are not comfortable if they can’t download the video and feel like they ‘own’ it. Having your access to the video go away when the subscrption expires kind of sucks. Users essentially lose all of their investment.
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You pay a monthly subscription fee to get access to the library and then pay for each video you want to ‘own’. Perhaps a compromise between the above two models. Could potentially be the best of both or the worst…not sure
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You pay a monthly subscription and get access to download all videos in the library. The value of the subscription is greater for those who join later because there will be more content available. Not a real incentive to stay subscribed. Simply subscribe for a month every quarter or once a year and download everything then unsubscribe.
Others?
the monthly payment scheme would be great.if the team could release videos say every month or 2per month this would keep the clients interested thus leading to consistant payment an interest increases.
BUT after say 10months this can lead to someone joining and getting all for the single payment.
Isn’t this just a normal store? The value proposition with itunes is that you can buy individual tracks rather than just albums. What can we offer, individual parts of films rather than the whole lot? Pay per answer?
- You pay a monthly subscription fee (again, <$10?) and have access to all videos in the library for as long as your subscription is active. No downloading…if you let the subscription laspe, you lose access to the videos. This is essentially the new Napster model. However, they have some complicated protection schemes that enable limited downloading (but you still lose access when your subscription expires. Advantage: Potential for a more constant revenue stream for cf.com could help to fund development of new content. Disadvantage: Customers generally are not comfortable if they can’t download the video and feel like they ‘own’ it. Having your access to the video go away when the subscrption expires kind of sucks. Users essentially lose all of their investment.
Personally i hate streaming video. Though it would be an “ideal” solution if people will buy into it (i wouldn’t).
- You pay a monthly subscription fee to get access to the library and then pay for each video you want to ‘own’. Perhaps a compromise between the above two models. Could potentially be the best of both or the worst…not sure
The subscription gives you access to more indepth discussion with specific answers to more individualised questions. Perhaps access to the old forum and skype style chat or something. Then a discount on the video products.
- You pay a monthly subscription and get access to download all videos in the library. The value of the subscription is greater for those who join later because there will be more content available. Not a real incentive to stay subscribed. Simply subscribe for a month every quarter or once a year and download everything then unsubscribe.
I see problems with this kind of subscription policy unless the content expires? Then perhaps you could pay for back issues? Like a magazine? This would give an incentive to stay subscribed.
The issue with all this is that content is king and how long can we keep the content coming?
What does everyone else think? TC