A Message to Online Video Sites- What Do You Need?

Dear online video sites. Thanks for giving us free access to online videos, as well as absorbing the costs of hosting and serving the videos. Unfortunately, that's become a commodity. I think you know this, but in case you don't… what attributes do you need to ensure that you're not a "Pets.com" of the online video space? Don't read ahead… name a few. Now scroll down.

If you want to succeed in this space, you need most of the following attributes:

• Lots of traffic and viewer loyalty
• Nice organization of content, and community/social networking doesn't hurt
• Partnerships with content creators- content is still king
• Relationships with large media players- they're going to eventually buy you
• Transparent revenue sharing with content owners- amateurs or media houses
• An attractive offering to advertisers (who will demand traffic)
• Something to differentiate from the increasingly crowded space
• Distribution channels beyond your site (like cable, networks or cell providers)
• Deep pockets (venture capital) to get out of the Catch 22 most won't escape: you need visitors for ad revenue, and ad revenue to support visitor generation

You know what I just realized? Some jackass consultant is going to rip this off and make money on a white paper about this rapidly growing industry. Oh well. At least I'm not making any money from this blog.