Louis CK Makes $200,000 Profit in Four Days With Online Video

RightInTwo

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Interesting read from Mashable. Sometimes you just gotta do things yourself!

Comedian Louis Szekely, better known as Louis C.K., is profiting handsomely from a $5 video of his latest standup routine, which he produced and distributed himself.

Instead of partnering with a studio, Szekely hired a team with six cameras to tape two of his performances at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan. He distributed the video through a website specially built for that purpose. Within 12 hours of going on sale Saturday, 50,000 people purchased the video, covering all of costs incurred for its production (around $170,000) and creation of the website ($32,000). By day four, he had sold 110,000 copies, making an additional $200,000 off the venture.

Szekely admits that $200,000 is less than what a ?big company? would have paid him for rights to create the video, but the added value for the fans makes up for the difference. Had another company produced it, they would have charged $20 for a video that would have been encrypted and regionally restricted, and fans would have had to fork over their personal details for the company?s own use.

?This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again,? Szekely posted on his website Tuesday.

Szekely was also pleased to note that most people paid $5 to download the video instead of bittorrenting it, which was presumably a problem with his earlier, pricier videos. He added that he would ?certainly do it again,? and if sales of this video remain strong, he?ll ?continue to follow the model of keeping my price as far down as possible, not overmarketing to you, and keeping as few people between you and me as possible in the transaction.?

Although Szekely has gone on the record against social media in the past, it?s difficult to imagine this venture would have been a success without it. The comedian mentioned the video many times on Twitter leading up to and following the video?s release, and he promoted it as part of an ?Ask Me Anything? special on reddit on Monday, which attracted more than 9,500 comments.​

Story source: http://mashable.com/2011/12/14/louis-ck-200000-standup-video/
 
The man took matters in his own hands and got paid :cool:. Cool story.
 
louis ck's the man, fuck big corps, fuck greedy people, louis decided to do this himself and saw that he not only made profit but earned A LOT of people's respect

i love how he made it default to not get into his email list, that shows how changing tiny things can make a huge difference

very effective marketing here, louis ck did everything right
 
I really like his signup / buy site. It's pretty basic, but full of character!
 
Interesting letter he has on his site about torrents:

To those who might wish to "torrent" this video: look, I don't really get the whole "torrent" thing. I don't know enough about it to judge either way. But I'd just like you to consider this: I made this video extremely easy to use against well-informed advice. I was told that it would be easier to torrent the way I made it, but I chose to do it this way anyway, because I want it to be easy for people to watch and enjoy this video in any way they want without "corporate" restrictions.
Please bear in mind that I am not a company or a corporation. I'm just some guy. I paid for the production and posting of this video with my own money. I would like to be able to post more material to the fans in this way, which makes it cheaper for the buyer and more pleasant for me. So, please help me keep this being a good idea. I can't stop you from torrenting; all I can do is politely ask you to pay your five little dollars, enjoy the video, and let other people find it in the same way.
Sincerely,
Louis C.K.
 
I like the guy, and I like that he took matters into his own hands, but "creation of the website ($32,000)"? I fail to see what on that website cost that much. Think he got hosed on that deal, whoever he hired.
 
$32k for a site? Looks like he got ripped off first, then god had a LOT of mercy on him, so he made him rich :p
 
$32k for the site alone or for the site plus advertising, links, etc? big difference.
 
$32,000 for that? Hilarious, even if it includes advertising and the like. $170,000 just for the production is quite a bit too.
 
Louis CK is great! I wish Lucky Louie was still on. The show was amazinG! Yes w/ a capital G LOL

K I just sent him the 5 bucks for it... I could prob watch on YT or find it somewhere but the fact the 5 bucks goes to his PP is great and yes w/ less hands grabbing a dollar here or there on the way. THX OP
 
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I really like what he did with the torrents. The recording industry should take note with how easy he made it to distribute. Sometimes its not about suing kids downloading your songs, its about getting it in front of people that makes it profitable.
 
I really like what he did with the torrents. The recording industry should take note with how easy he made it to distribute. Sometimes its not about suing kids downloading your songs, its about getting it in front of people that makes it profitable.

Recording industry's entire business model is largely obsolete, a way overpriced unnecessary middleman, they need to evolve, become leaner or perish.
 
$32k for this website...
I do it for $1.500 and in few days :)

Beny
 
ok, this is obviously his first venture of this kind so he paid little more than he should be.
Maybe he will read this forum and be smarter next time and cut the costs, maybe even hire some of you
 
Just goes to show that if you take out the middle man (the big corps) it will be better for the creator & and client! Imagine he's still profiting from it and will continue to do so! Heck even I bought it... "it's just $5" this guy deserves it!

I'd rather pay $5 and watch something this amazing than pay $9 and watch twilight :P (Just kidding I wouldn't watch that even if they paid me)
 
Good example of how much profit web design and video production companies can make off people!
 
I could probably find a free download of the special, but I will pay him the 5 dollars because he deserves it. Louis CK is the best comedian alive, artists deserve to be paid, if we didnt pay them, we would never know the pleasure of Louis C, because there would be no reason for them to do it. I will gladly download Metallica, incubus, the beattles, rolling stones, or brittney spears because they have enough money and other than the stones they suck. Artists like Louis CK need to paid, and need to be paid well so they can keep making me happpy
 
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