I have a Niche Market but need some advice?

I have been a stay at home mom for the last 5 years, before my first child I was in the computer field, a Database Admin. I can not believe how fast things change.

I have come across a niche market which I think may have some potential. I am just not sure where to start. In this market we already sell some products on a website that I created. This niche market has one big forum that is doing well and a couple of others that are not really used, but I think there is room for a bigger and better forum.

The thing I am really interested in doing is some type of LIVE Streaming Video of events (pay for each view) I would really appreciate some advice or suggestions - What technology will I need, is there a good place to read more about this, What are some of the downfalls, things to be aware of etc.

Thanks in Advance for you advice.

 

what sort of events would you be streaming
be careful of copyright laws etc..
its becoming more and more complicated

 

it is just small promoters putting on racing events

 

I'm not sure, but maybe you should first find out if there's any copyright/licensing issues? I mean, for example, the NFL has serious limitations, so streaming video from a football game could lead to court.

 

I will look into the copyright, but if I can get past that what would I need to do?

 

is the streaming allready on the web or will you be filming it yourself

 

Oh, and when it comes to monetizing, maybe it would be easier for you to offer memberships instead of pay per view, as it is easier to implement. (if you'd like me to show you about subscription success, PM me).

As for technology, you should first sign up for dedicated web hosting: it is much more expensive than shared or VPS, but for websites with processor-heavy applications like yours need to run on a powerful server) or host it privately on your own. When it comes to streaming, you could either use:

The Helix Server: Which is very good, and works for live streaming (though I'm not sure how to implement it.

Quicktime. For Quicktime, I found an article that should help you out (ddm.caad.ed.ac.uk/lectures/SD/Sound_environments/Lecture10/index.html[/url]), and a link to Apple's information on how to do it (apple.com/quicktime/broadcaster/)

Or Windows Media: I found this for you (microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/compare/webservvstreamserv.aspx)

Given Apple's reputation, Quicktime shouldn't be hard to implement, but that's just my opinion.

 

You would need to invest alot to start with, a dedicated server is a must if your hosting and streaming it.

 

I would be filming myself.

 

I'm not sure if you could limit certain things to paid viewers but you might be able to use a free service like ustream or justin.tv to stream stuff on your site. I know with justin.tv you can make your stream private. Might help you get started to at least test the market without having to make a big investment.

 

if you said that in the market your looking at entering there's already one main competitor?

You must be careful as they could be seen as an monopoly, and depending how well they're doing depends what way you should enter the market... People may have some sort of loyalty to this forum and have no need to move. I understand that you have the idea of streaming videos etc but i'd still be cautious when entering this market.

If you have the finance to back it then you should be able to take them on... lots of advertising.. build up the rankings in the search engines.. try and find out what keywords they're using etc...