John Goldstone, producer of Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, tells story to Greg Jarboe, author of YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day
SAN FRANCISCO (RPRN) 7/27/2009–And now for something completely different: A new paperback book by Greg Jarboe which will be published August 17, 2009, reveals how Monty Python used a new YouTube channel to increase DVD sales 23,000 percent. YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day, a complete, task-based guide to developing, implementing, and tracking a video marketing strategy, features a case study of Monty Python’s channel along with an interview with John Goldstone, the producer of such movies as Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983).
In Chapter 11 of the new paperback book, Goldstone tells Jarboe the Pythons created a YouTube channel in November 2008 just to stop their content from being released illegally on the Internet. Goldstone says, “We felt the time had come to deal with the ‘YouTube problem.’ On the one hand, we were surprised at the number of clips that had been uploaded to YouTube in clear infringement of our copyright, and while we didn’t want to be spoilsports, it was getting pretty much out of control and we could see no real benefit. So I arranged a trip to meet the YouTube guys on the Google campus in San Jose and discovered that they had a program that would enable us to have our own Monty Python channel on YouTube where we could put up clips from the movies and TV shows of far greater quality and order that might also encourage viewers to want to see whole movies or TV episodes via links to Amazon and iTunes and expand our Monty Python fan base.”
When Goldstone launched Monty Python’s Channel on November 14, 2008, he took advantage of YouTube’s click-to-buy program. The Python’s DVDs quickly climbed to No. 2 on Amazon’s Movies & TV bestsellers list and DVD sales increased 23,000 percent. Goldstone tells Jarboe, “The click-to-buy ability was exactly what we were looking for to make the link from video to the right Amazon page much more effective than the URL by the side of the video description. We are only now beginning to address premium advertising, which is only possible when you can show the size, composition, and consistency of your viewers.”
Published by Wiley, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day goes on sale on August 17, 2009. This 504-page guide provides extensive coverage of keyword strategies and video optimization, distribution and promotion strategies to other sites and blogs, YouTube advertising opportunities, and crucial metrics and analysis. For more information about the paperback book or to read excerpts of Chapters 1 and 11, go to www.wiley.com/go/youtubehouraday.
Among the people providing advance praise for Jarboe’s new paperback book is Michael Miller, author of YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Business(Que, August 2008). Miller says, “Whether your budget is zero or tens of thousands of dollars, Greg Jarboe shows you how to get the best bang for your online marketing buck. In his book, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day, Greg takes you beyond basic techniques to professional promotion and advertising strategies — everything you need to market your business on YouTube.”
###