More content is being created today than ever before in history, and the pace of creation continues to accelerate. But it is no longer just big media companies that are participating–it is the everyman and average Jolene, passionate about self-expression through video, photo, and music. Unfortunately, while the mass creative class has risen up, the stock media industry has not adapted to support this new wave and budget conscious group.
Joel Holland, a 30-year-old entrepreneur, is trying to change that. Holland built a $20 million business called VideoBlocks from his RV.
Groups like Discovery have been adding explosions, effects, and stock video clips from around the world for years. Holland advised, “why shouldn’t budget conscious hobbyists and enthusiasts have the same access to stock content that can make their productions better?”
VideoBlocks is a subscription-based website that provides members with unlimited downloads of stock video, motion backgrounds, special effects, after effects templates and more. Instead of charging per download, Holland wanted to allow our members to download as much as they want via a Netflix-style all you can eat package.
Today, the platform empowers over 150,000 members to enhance their creative projects, ranging from professional production studios to pro-sumer’s and enthusiasts like colleges, churches, and video editing hobbyists.
These users download over 1,000,000 stock video clips, motion backgrounds, After Effects templates and more from VideoBlocks each month, and millions more graphics and audio tracks from sister sites GraphicStock and AudioStock.
Videoblocks members pay as little as $99 per year for the privilege of unlimited downloads from their library of content that has cost millions of dollars building over the past six years. When I asked Holland about the value the platform is providing content creators he advised: “The value is evident in the numbers: On average, our members download 140 clips per year, effectively paying less than $1 per clip.”
Holland went on to compare the subscription to purchasing content from other competitors in the marketplace. He advised that it typically costs around $79 per clip from traditional media outlets, meaning that his members save over $10,000 per year by not having to purchase by the clips individually.
Essentially, the value of any unlimited access package will depend entirely on how many content customers need. But, Holland equally stressed that VideoBlocks is not just about saving money for existing content creators– The real value is in opening up access to an entirely new market.
Despite the challenges of competing against giants such as Shutterstock, Getty, and Pond5. VideoBlocks has now turned over more than $20 million and achieved 214 percent growth in the last three years. But when I asked Holland, where he gets his inspiration, creativity and out of the box ideas for the company? He advised that getting out of the boardroom and onto the open road in his RV heading for the great outdoors is where the real magic happens.
I recently spoke to the VideoBlocks founder about how an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger became the inspiration for his entrepreneurial adventure on my podcast. Holland openly discusses the rigors of building a startup and how therapeutic he finds the great outdoors.
