Congratulations ! You have made an Indie movie. Now What ??? Can you make any money off of it ? Traditional methods of marketing include going to film festivals and offer your work for distribution. You will need a bit of cash to promote your film and get it in front of buyers and hope that you get an offer from a legitimate distributor. many have sold their film to smaller distributors only to end up getting nothing either because the distributor stated their expenses in marketing your movie ate up all of the profits and there is no money coming to you or the distributor was unable to find buyers for your film.

There are many horror stories about first time filmmakers not being able to get anywhere with their first efforts. I would like to offer an alternative to traditional marketing methods.

More and more nowdays you hear of TV and film being placed on the internet. Southpark just made a multi-million dollar deal to have their shows on the net. Internet delivery of media content was at the heart of the recent writer’s strike, so the profit potential is there. As a fledgling movie maker, you need to state what your goals are in getting your film out there. Of course you want to make buckets of money, have fame and fortune along with cute starlets laying down on your casting couch calling your name ( Ok, my deep fantasies on that one ). However… reality strikes and you have to deal with the fact that your movie is not blockbuster material and that your dreams are probably more than you should expect.

If you desire to get a foundation established. One that will let the world know about your work, possibly allow you to make some income on your effort as opposed to dumping more cash into a project just to get that first one sold and get nothing. I suggest looking at doing your own promotion of your film online using viral marketing, social networking sites along with placing your movie either online where viewers will pay to see the film or pay for a DVD.

A well planned approach along with an aggressive campaign can help you achieve that. If you wish to recoup some of your investment in making your movie ( or even better make a profit ) and get people to see your film, then you might want to investigate this system I am suggesting. I propose that you take a good inventory of what is available to you and use the wealth of tools along with the power of the internet to get your film out there.

Let’s say that you would be pleased to get $20,000 for your low-budget movie as a base for marketing your movie. Well what if you could get $80,000 over a five year period ??? Sound better than giving away your movie to a lowly distributor and never seeing a dime ? A possibility exists that you could self-distribute your movie in english and be able to sell rights overseas where the movie can be dubbed in other languages. You can use your online exposure to get attention and allow for this to happen.

Let’s do some math, if you sold the movie for $12.99 plus shipping of $3.99 for a price of $ 16.98. You can get a DVD replicated and shipped for $4.99, leaving you $11.99 profit assuming you have zero expenses in marketing. Ok, so take out $4 in marketing expenses and you have $8 after expenses. There are opportunities to sell t-shirts, posters and other promotional items increasing your profits. Just taking the $8 profit on one DVD, you would need to sell 10,000 copies to make $80,000 in a five year period, that equals 166 copies a month. Is it doable ? Is it worth further investigation ? You decide.

Another option is to deliver the film online in a paid members area where people will pay to view or download your film. A third option is to give the film away and monetize your delivery mechanism by using tools available to internet marketers. You can sell promotional items like shirts, and other items along with selling ad space on your website is one plan. Selling advertising can also be done by placing relevant ads on your website using Google Adsense and other tools. Using all methods outlined you would need to realize a profit. $1328.00 a month will get you $80,000 in five years. It is up to you to find a way to get that done. A 13 year old girl made MILLIONS off of her website giving away Myspace layouts ! The power of the internet is just beginning to be tapped when it comes to sales and delivery of entertainment.

I am suggesting that a solid marketing campaign with a focus on networking and utilizing all the tools that the internet offers, you can achieve the totals and more. I am committed to develop this plan and share with others how to achieve positive results. there is no concrete solid plan being offered here, you will need to determine the tools and methods that will best suit your movie.

Even if you do not want to directly sell your movie. This website and methods of promotion can be extremely valuable in letting the world know about your movie. If you build a web presence that gets thousands driven to your website and creates interest and attracts offers from a reputable distributor is a winner for any filmmaker.