Focusing on a Niche Market: IronMan Movie
Initial numbers are out, and it’s no surprise… the IronMan movie is owning up the box office. As reported by Deadline Hollywood, here are what the first numbers look like and forecast:
‘IRON MAN’ FIRST SUMMER STRONGMAN: Friday’s $30 Million Dollar Marvel; $80+M Weekend, $30M Intl, 2008’s Biggest Yet
So what does this mean for you? Besides being one of the millions of people that are going to see this movie, why turn it around for once and make money off the movie, while enjoying it! If you have an interest in comics and or just like IronMan, the potential here is amazing. Just look at the Spiderman movie series, they have been marketing and commercializing the heck out of that movie since day one. If you got in early with promoting or marketing Spiderman products, you probably made out very well. Don’t let another Marvel Movie pass you buy without making some extra pocket change, not to mention you will be ready when the sequels come out too!
The IronMan movie has now been released and it’s already going to get massive overflow of people searching online for videos, screencaps, the IronMan story, comics and more… you name it! So how can you start promoting IronMan products or get in on the action. Be creative! Target to your audience and give them what they want. If you are good with ppc marketing, you can setup ad campaigns around IronMan, or you can simply setup an IronMan store and sell products, dvds and comics. Amazon.com and several other affiliate programs have thousands of IronMan products.
Another idea is to create a Build a Niche Store site. I created an IronMan comics sites just for the movie’s release. With the new movie coming out, you know there is going to be a huge interest in the comic book series. The creation of this IronMan comics site, using BANS, will also play into my case study for you to follow and watch. For now I have thrown together a basic design using the BANS program to give you an idea of what an out of the box site would look like. As of now, I have just registered a domain and created a header image for the site and will now document and write a tutorial of how I made the basic site into a monetized IronMan dedicated comic and memorabilia site. Through the week updates will follow with screen captures and what changes were made the to site. This should not only give you ideas on how to target to niche markets, but also how to monetize a page to the maximum.
What are your ideas for creating a revenue generating campaign around a new movie? If you are targeting towards a movie that is already bound for success, the branding and audience is already there. You just need to focus on providing a quality products and getting users to your site.
UPDATE: Read “IronMan Comics Build a Niche Store – Phase 2”
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Zach: I would stay away from trademarks in the domain name. I know people that got into troubles with them on BANS sites. Some companies don't like that and it's best to avoid them. A company position may allow it today but it can change tomorrow. 😉
Depends on the company. I know there are a lot of existing and established comic sites out there using "spiderman" and "ironman" in their domain names.
Keep us updated on the sites progress will be very interesting to see someone making some cash without ppc.
There have been rumors that downy is already considering sequels, so maybe this will turn into a spiderman/x-man like franchise.
Hi Zac,
thanks for great post about how to ride blockbuster movie release.
Just my thought, don't you think most movie title like Iron Man is a trademark ? So we can't allow bid this keyword on Adwords ?
And if the movie title is a trademark, is it ok to register domain name that contain that trademark ?
Sorry if it is basic question, I'm a newbie about this technique.
thanks.
Sukarto
I wish I still had that Ironman comic book I had as a kid.
i wish i will have a Spiderman comics book!!!! and we can exchange! will you?
Zac,
I cant wait to read about your case study. I have been using BANS for about 2 months now. It is a great script.
Well forget the revenue Zac … You should go watch this movie … It is pretty good.
Going to make sure to see it this week 🙂
haha you should have watched it to know and explore more about its marketing :p
Volume. Think volume. Also, they don't have to buy a comic, per say, eBay has 7 day cookies.
I was shocked to see that it was the second largest opening week ever. And like you said, it definitally helps when you have a niche behind you because that attracts the spiderman mans etc…
Great Idea to capitalize on growing trends…. obviously the iron man thing will pass, but its great that you are doing it while its hot!
High end Iron Man comics go for a few thousand dollars each and statues for a few hundred dollars each. If you can hit the buyers, you can make good money in almost any niche.
Actually, I don't think comics have been in the $0.99 range for some time.
I first started collecting comics in the late 80s and they were $0.50, then $0.75, and marvel/DC had been selling their stuff at $1.25 – $1.50 when I quit.
I checked some merchandise at Affiliate Summit and the stuff goes for $3.50 upwards for acid-free dust jacket monthly issues (we're not talking trade paperbacks or special editions here…).
If you get a good gig going, I know of comic affiliates who're doing 5 figs/mth, and besides Iron Man, there's the Speed Racer and Dark Knight Returns movies to bank on also.
Iron man rocked the box office.
I have no interest in seeing Iron Man. I'm surprised it did so well.
Iron Man was probably the sickest movie I have yet to see this year!
Running into trouble from Marvel over the trademark probably won't be an issue because that site will probably never convert well enough to catch their attention.
You should have researched the market before throwing up a site and writing about it as if it will be a big money maker… yes, the Iron Man movie did well, and yes, according to the trends, back issues will rise in value slightly. But that doesn't equate to sales of back issues, nor does it translate to increased sales of statues and paraphernalia to the point of profitability if everyone jumps on the bandwagon.
The comics industry is just bouncing back from a major dive in the 90's and early 00's with speculators ruining the market. People aren't speculating on comics like they were 10 years ago, and that's why trying to capitalize on things like this is very, very difficult. It's one thing to say "I took my kid to the movie, and I bought him a couple of recent Iron Man books or an action figure for a couple of bucks", it's quite another to say "I took my kid to the movie and spent $1000 on a rare back issue or $300 on a statue as a result". The former is very likely. The latter is unlikely in the extreme.
I like a lot of what you write, Zac, but this article is pretty thin. What I took away from it could be boiled down to "whenever a movie comes out, try to make some money off it". I think your readers already knew that.
I've been writing a lot about "niche markets" lately… and one of the major points to success in a niche market is to enjoy what you are marketing. I collect comics and have been buying them for years. I also have other comic sites in the works and will have a network of them and this will be one of them.
I don't expect to make thousands of dollars off "IronMan" by simply throwing a site up. I have fun making it and whatever happens is all profit and gravy. The goal is to target to any high end comic buyers out there, if any of them come along and buy old IronMan comics for a few bucks… all the better. There are a ton of ways to market around IronMan… I chose comics.
Nothing thin about this article, I am pointing out how to focus on niche markets and having fun in the process.
I agree with the point that you need to enjoy what you're marketing when you're operating niche sites; absolutely.
I've been collecting comics since 1985, so I've seen a lot of things happen in that industry. I've read for fun, and I've been a speculator. I'm not an industry expert, but I'm not a casual reader. I'm not saying that your site absolutely will not make you any money, and your point that you never said you would make thousands off Iron Man is taken. I'm definitely interested in seeing what you can do with this. I'm also planning a comics-related site, but it's going to be more community oriented than putting up a BANS site and pulling in eBay data.
I have to commend you on snagging that domain name – I can't believe that wasn't snapped up years ago, it's awesome.
Cool, keep me updated. The IronMans Build a Niche Site was never planned to be something amazing… maybe in time, but for now just a simple case study on how to quickly throw a site up and take a jab at an existing niche.
Nice site, problem is it's horribly setup to make any kind of money without spending a lot of money on traffic for it. It's no different than the multitudes of other BANS sites that are setup out there now. I'd be really shocked to ever see this site show up in the serps in it's current state other than PPC as it it is not SEO'd in any way shape or form. Bad example to use to show you know how to do something when really all you are showing is that you really don't have a clue other than a basic setup that somebody can get from the manual.
This is a work in progress and case study… as mentioned in the blog post. Updates will be made the site and posted soon.
Very creative way to increase earning…So, I guess we have to move fast before the film popularity passed.
A very good idea here Zach, especially with two sequels announced..Bloggers should be latching onto the Marvel and other comics niche if they are familiar with it, makes for a smart blog idea…
One of the most innovative ideas on earning. I mean the movie rocks buy itself and here comes the "Super Affiliate" showing us how to make cash on it ! 🙂
Yet another great post on how you can take every day buzz and a hot (now) niche and capitalize on it. I enjoy reading your tips Zac and surprised at the level of pushback (hate) you are getting from some of the more "comic"-centric readers. Your blog is about being oppurtunistic about making money online and finding and taking advantage of niches in the market – no matter how small or how fleeting. I think you do it very well here. I wonder how may BANS sites there are around Grand Theft Auto IV?
Criticism does not equal hatred and just because there are BANS sites built around GTA4 doesn't mean they will convert well.
Just because someone disagrees with Zac about one thing doesn't mean there is hatred toward him or his business. Not everyone feels that everything Zac says should be blindly accepted, I suppose.
Great movie and it all makes sense. Target what's hot — organize the in-demand info and products into one place for the users, and get them to shop.
I feel one of the best ways to promote a new movie is to create a controvery around it.
Has anybody watched the Ironman movie? How is it?
I was never even an Iron Man fan, never followed the story and I thought the movie was great. Action was great, special fx were awesome, and a lot of humor mixed in, I laughed quite a bit. Good all around mix.
My friend saw it and said she liked it, but the whole SuperHero movie things are getting old, first with spiderman, fanastic 4 , now this… but there is a lot of hype with it, car commericals and phone commericals…stuff.
I purchased the Ironman Blu-Ray from wal-mart on tuesday. The extra disk played fine on my PS3 but when I tried to play the movie disc the screen only showed the blue circle from ironmans chest. I took the movie back to wal-mart and received a refund.
Great use of the ebay Bans site… I tried to do that with the micael more movie when it came out but not many people went to the Sickostore.com