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Business Plan to Build an Online Cinema for Fan-Made Movies

Nick Campbell

Do you like fan-made movies? Would you like to monetize your passion? We continue the series of business plans from TemplateMonster. And today, we’ll unveil how much it may cost you to build an online cinema for fan-made movies.

Fan-made movies are constantly growing in popularity. And that’s not surprising at all. Many amateur flicks available on YouTube don’t yield to big-budget blockbusters shot in Hollywood. So, it makes sense to gather screen fans at your own online cinema.

In this post, you’ll learn what an online cinema requires and how much to invest in it. Here are the main stages.

Start with a Facebook Business Page

At the very beginning, you can create a Facebook business page and post videos of fan-made movies from Youtube and Vimeo. In that way, you’ll see how much traffic you can get. It requires no investment. Here’s a complete guide on how to create and manage business pages on Facebook.

When choosing the type of your page, opt for “Cause or Community.” It is designed for building a community of fans around your online cinema, which is exactly what you need. Later, you can send Facebook followers to your website.

Build a Video Blog for Better Monetization Opportunities

Next, you’ll need to build a blog, where you will post videos, supply them with reviews and provoke heated discussions about them in comments. Check out the expenses you will have at this stage.

Domain Name. First of all, register a domain name. It is a word or word combination describing your site in the address bar of the browser, i.e. URL. Choose a name that is easy to pronounce and remember.

You can either get a domain name for free within a hosting plan or buy it for $10-100 at Atilus. Although Atilus domain names seem to be a bit expensive, the company takes a professional approach with a substantial involvement of the client.

Hosting. Next, choose a place for storing your website files, i.e. hosting. Make sure you approach this step with all the diligence, as your website security and speed depend on your hosting provider.

Hosting plans cost $100 per month at Atilus, but the price depends on the hosting type you choose, e.g. dedicated, shared, etc. You may need to pay some extra fees for SSL protection or static IP Address.

If you need a cheaper alternative, check out domain.com and godaddy.com. Their monthly costs range from $1.99 to $3.75.

Website Building. Now that you’ve picked a domain name and hosting for your site, think of the best and affordable way to build your video blog. There are 3 main options to choose from.

1. Custom Design

This is the priciest and time-consuming solution. On the one hand, you gain full control over your website design and can dictate your will literally on each pixel of its layout. But on the other hand, such a high level of control costs more money.

At getacustomdesign.com, prices for a custom home page design start at $400. A custom inner page (Contacts, Blog, Testimonials, etc) costs $70. To make your site available on all the modern devices, you’ll have to pay extra $600.

If you order Plato services, it may cost you $2000-$5000. In fact, you can estimate the price yourself using a built-in calculator. Simply select the necessary features, and you’ll see an approximate price to pay.

You can also use services of freelancers that set hourly prices for their work, as a rule.

2. CMS + Ready-Made Theme

This is a faster and more cost-effective solution compared to custom designs. You’ll need to choose a CMS (free), buy a ready-made theme, and hire a developer to create a site based on it.

There are 3 major open-source CMSs (content management systems) to choose from.

WordPress themes cost $75 at TemplateMonster. You can also order installation for $49 or a ready-to-use site for $249 there or hire a developer some other place. For example, you can pay $15 per hour at wordprax.com or $100 per day at sparxitsolutions.com.

Monthly prices of WordPress hosting providers vary between $1.99 and 30.00. Find more info here.

TemplateMonster Joomla templates cost $75 with installation for $49. Alternatively, consider an idea to hire a developer at sparxitsolutions.com for $100 per day or at shinetechchina.com with custom pricing models.

Joomla hosting costs $3.95 at siteground.com, which is recommended by the Joomla community.

Drupal themes cost $75 at TemplateMonster with installation for $49. The minimum cost of development is $20 per hour at elegantbizapps.com.

The pricing range for Drupal hosting varies from $3 to $6. Check out providers here.

3. WYSIWYG Builders

These tools allow non-tech savvies to create functional sites themselves. Here are tried and tested WYSIWYG builders

Order SEO and SMM Services

SEO Consultant. Hire a specialist to optimize your content so that it could rank higher in search results and bring you more visitors. Check out how much different resources charge for this service.

SMM Consultant. Order SMM services to promote your online cinema on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Here are the costs to pay.

Run Ad Campaigns

To expand your audience even more, you can run various advertising campaigns. With their help, you can reach people in news feeds on social media or SERP when they search for something specific. Here are the most effective channels to go to.

Hire Writers of Movie Reviews

Reviewing each fan-made movie may be time-consuming. If you are short on time, you can hire freelancers to write reviews for your blog. Articles must be 500-1,000 words long, free from any errors and written in simple words.

To sum it up, you will need at least $1,500 to start an online cinema if you choose the cheapest services. You can save a lot on your website design if you opt for a ready-made template.

Do you have any suggestions on how to improve this business plan? Could you share your experience on using online marketing services? Feel free to do it in the comments below.

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