Did you know that you can now share your webinars, syndicated video content or training videos with millions of Amazon Prime members — and earn royalties in the process?
It’s all thanks to a program called Amazon Video Direct. And it’s all available starting today on the Amazon platform.
Introducing Amazon Video Direct
Earlier today, Amazon announced an addition to Amazon Video called Amazon Video Direct (AVD), a new first-of-its-kind self-service program that lets you make your video content available to Amazon customers, including millions of Prime members, and earn royalties based on the number of hours streamed.
You can also make your videos available to rent or own, offer them for free with ads or package them together as an add-on subscription for Amazon Prime members.
Small Business and Amazon Video Direct
AVD is ideal for independent filmmakers, video bloggers, podcasters and digital publishers. Companies such as Conde Nast Entertainment, HowStuffWorks, Samuel Goldwyn Films, The Guardian, Mashable, Mattel, StyleHaul and Business Insider are already participating. You can find their videos at Amazon Video Direct starting today.
It’s also conceivable that small businesses could make their videos available to customers as part of Prime Video, for marketing purposes, even if they choose not to receive royalties.
For example, business owners could publish educational webinars or product-related videos. Business and lifestyle coaches could upload a series of training videos. Food bloggers could syndicate cooking videos. The list of ideas is endless and certainly worth exploring.
Think of AVD as akin to YouTube — a repository for video content and another channel to reach customers and prospects.
Benefits of Amazon Video Direct for Content Creators
The new Amazon Video Direct service has more than a few pluses, the company points out specifically in its release:
- Access to Amazon’s vast streaming video audience. You can target tens of millions of Prime members with your video content while collecting revenue for the content that is viewed;
- Flexible sharing options. That revenue comes from sharing your content in a variety of ways through Amazon Video Direct including purchase, rental, subscriptions and even ad impressions — again in the case of free content;
- Expanded customer reach. You’ll be able to make your videos available to an expanded international audience too. That potential audience includes potential viewers in the United States, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and Japan, — countries where Amazon Video is already available;
- Device option support. Your content will also be available on a variety of devices — specifically those on which Amazon Video is already accessible. That list includes Fire TV, Fire tablets, iOS and Android tablets, connected TVs, game consoles and iOS and Android phones and laptops;
- Optimized performance metrics. Amazon’s performance metrics give you all the information you need to manage the Amazon Video Direct part of your business. That includes information like how long your video was streamed, projected revenue for the amount of video consumed, projected revenue, history of payment and the number of subscribers.
“It’s an amazing time to be a content creator,” said Jim Freeman, vice president of Amazon Video, in the announcement. “There are more options for distribution than ever before and with Amazon Video Direct, for the first time, there’s a self-service option for video providers to get their content into a premium streaming subscription service. We’re excited to make it even easier for content creators to find an audience, and for that audience to find great content.”
Amazon Video Direct Stars Program
Amazon also launched today the AVD Stars program, which lets video creators share one million dollars per month — based on customer engagement with their content — as a bonus to the Top 100 titles included with Prime through Amazon Video Direct.
According to Amazon, the bonus is incremental to revenue earned from hours streamed, rentals, purchases, monthly subscriptions and ad impressions. All titles included with Prime are automatically eligible.
Get Started Using AVD
Get started using Amazon Video Direct by visiting the website and clicking the “Create your free account” button. If you already have an Amazon account, sign in.
Next, agree to the AVD license and then complete your account details, which involve three steps:
- Create a company profile. This includes adding your business name, address, phone number and similar details. Amazon requires a company profile even if you’re not part of an organization;
- Set up payment and banking information. Amazon electronically pays royalties to the bank account information you provide;
- Submit your tax information. U.S. tax law regulations require you to submit information about your tax status.
Upon completing those steps you can now access the AVD dashboard and upload videos in one of two formats:
- Standalone. A title consisting of a single video that is not part of a larger collection of a series. A feature film, short film or documentary are all examples of standalone titles;
- Episodic. A title consisting of multiple episodes that comprise a season. A TV series or multi-part documentary are examples. For episodic titles available for purchase, you choose to offer an entire collection (season) or individual videos (episodes). You also have the option of making your content available to Prime members as a monthly add-on subscription.
Visit the Amazon Video Direct website to learn more or begin publishing content.
Images: Amazon
This article, "Amazon Video Direct Makes Your Content Available to Millions, Pays Royalties" was first published on Small Business Trends
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