When it comes to cultivating an audience, a film is really no different than any business, cause or organization.
The challenge is the same: identify your target audience, find a way to reach them and compel them to do something (buy a DVD, elect a new president, donate to the cause, etc.).
So DIY filmmakers know to beg, borrow and steal their marketing ideas from others, even if the ideas are from far outside the film realm. Use what works and don't try to recreate the wheel.
Life is short, time is precious and money is scarce. Find new ideas and make them work for you, without apology.
Web 2.0 tactics offer indie filmmakers perhaps the best chance to level the field. The tools are (mostly) free and if done properly, diligently and relentlessly, have the potential to propel quality filmmaking into the limelight.
What's web 2.0?
Blogging (like this), social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.), user-generated content (YouTube, Yelp, etc.) and other web experiences that empower users to build the value rather than simply pushing stuff at them.
A few MIT professors interviewed successful web 2.0 marketing execs and learned some of their secrets, which they published in the Wall Street Journal.
Check it out and think about how you could apply these lessons to your DIY film's marketing efforts:
The secrets of marketing in a web 2.0 world (MIT/Wall Street Journal)
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