Guide to Starting a Profitable IPTV Reselling Business
1. Introduction to IPTV Reselling
INTRODUCTION IPTV is the Internet Protocol Television. IPTV is a fast emerging concept of broadcasting television. In comparison with another recent estimate, the overall IPTV annual growth was projected to be nearly 150% by the year 2013, whereas hosts with companies in Europe, Asia or Africa witnessed an annual growth of 70% on average 1. Why this rush? What is in IPTV? This improvement in an annual gain will eventually make IPTV sound like a vivid business idea. This documentation serves as a guide to starting an IPTV reselling business with all-you-need-to-know information regarding IPTV and its reselling, different steps and ways to start the business, different strategies to maintain and grow the business along with some important tips to avoid any mishaps. What is IPTV? Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is essentially a method of broadcasting television programs and video content over a broadband network using the Internet Protocol (IP). Essentially, like browsing the web on a smartphone or computer, IPTV uses the internet. The IPTV services over high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) connections are delivering video on-demand (VoD) to a number of set-top boxes. redistributor or service provider must provide numerous channels to meet customer’s needs. Along with this, it means flooding the subscribers with a huge number of services irrespective of all of the demands of the users.
1.1. What is IPTV?
With the increasing video services in the Internet and the widespread use of packet data networks (PDNs), Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has rapidly developed in residential, business, and mobile environments and has become a translation of television services for emerging networks and home gateways. Residential users can subscribe to IPTV services from television providers if they have broadband access. IPTV provides television services through IP for residential and business users. In IPTV infrastructure, a Quality of Service (QoS) enabled broadband network meets the end-to-end QoS requirements of IPTV services 2.
IPTV is different from the current Internet TV services, where the quality of video does can be so poor that it is hard to watch on a full screen. The computers downloading and caches some of the video data before starting the play because the Internet has a lossy environment between the server and clients. In order for the users to watch the TV, the entire Intranet data has to be transferred to the client PC using the TCP protocol in a synchronized manner. The Internet can not ensure that a real-time deadline for each IP packet is supported. Those efforts help a little to reduce jerking but can not eliminate the “late” completely. This is an intrinsic problem of the PDNs: TCP/IP networks are based on the concept of best effort with no guarantees, and the poor performance of a streaming data transfer over the Internet is the best cost reason.
IPTV has commercial grade multicast TV, VoD, and DVR services, as well as an invitation DVR service that cannot be shared with others for which the video is purchased and made available to the purchaser for replay. While watching a time-shift program, users can also perform trick-play functions since a time-shifted program is saved as a file. Networking video recording is encompassing all the above services and has an integrated mutual relationship. That is, commercial-grade multicast TV shows can be recorded and replayed. It is also possible to request a VoD program and save it to the DVR and different services are provided to the user on one screen using PiP, PBP. This paper describes IPTV technology, streams, Internet, network architecture, applications, audio coding, and some research works.
1.2. Understanding IPTV Reselling
Internet Protocol Television, more commonly referred to as IPTV, has gained a substantial amount of attention in the past decade as a robust new method of watching television. There are many IPTV systems across the globe; some systems are managed by large companies. Other IPTV systems are reseller based, and it is IPTV reselling that is the focus of this report 2. An IPTV reselling business is one that acquires video signals from one IPTV service, and sells the video signals to consumers under its own brand name. The term “January 1st” is used to describe both the video signals that the service offers, as well as the physical media that these video signals are sent to viewing consumers on the internet. Advertisements for most IPTV services describe the service as a package—26 examples would be 30 days 26 intercervices for USD$20 1.
The landscape of how IPTV service is delivered is constantly evolving. This trend makes the business climate uncertain, and it is possible that some new IPTV services will have significant advantages over resellers. Because the technical and business environment of IPTV systems are in a state of rapid change, an IPTV reseller business cannot make long range plans. The reseller must constantly adjust the scale of its business to react to rapidly changing circumstances. As expansion of the internet occurs, many IPTV services eventually fade away. Many of them, in an attempt to stay profitable, take drastic steps such as reducing the number of channels they offer or increasing the number of inter-device transducers that they utilize. Still, these services eventually expire as there are no markets for the poorest quality. On account of these rapid changes, beginning an IPTV reselling business is not recommended. Further, even though establishing such a business would likely not be very expensive, the market for IPTV reselling is already severely oversaturated.
2. Market Analysis
The IPTV marketplace has seen high growth rates in recent years, generating significant future commercial potential. A number of trends in service offerings have evolved with this growth in recent years. Users can view their favorite channel nearly instantaneously. This technique is designed to offer an improved multicasting method to significantly reduce the average channel change time experienced by most users. In the near future, IPTV services appear likely to be enjoyed by a growing number of satisfied customers.
Worldwide IPTV growth has continued over the last several years due to various factors such as the increasing broadband customer base, technical improvements, the introduction of standards, and regulatory reform 3. Some key metrics associated with IPTV growth include the number of households worldwide having broadband service, with sufficient bandwidth capabilities to allow reception of IPTV services, which includes estimates of worldwide IPTV subscribers. Europe, Asia, and North America are currently the largest IPTV regions of growth. Estimates for Europe proposed 18 million IPTV subscribers for 2013. The implementation of IPTV in a traditional cable company requires significant description. Some of these are listed as the PVI, middleware, IP encoders, VOD services, and the PacketCable Gateway. Commercial IPTV service offerings require large financial investments. These services also require the deployment of new headend equipment, such as the SES-110. With new hopes of profitability, there is strong motivation to further increase the commercial success of the IPTV marketplace. The purpose of this work is to investigate approaches that may guarantee new commercial subscribers will experience shorter IPTV channel change times. The NDS-2 model is used for much of the work performed in this paper. When customers want to change channels, the set-top box must connect to the content server stream and buffer for a length of time. Only after buffering has accumulated is the channel able to display to the user. Over the last decade, rapid growth has been observed in services delivered over the Internet or on IP networks, many of which are real-time multimedia services. There are concerns regarding their provisioning as the load approaches the capacity of the network. As channel change loads increase, many observations reveal the time taken for the content to appear on the subscriber’s screen may be twenty or more seconds. In certain networks, these long channel change times are clearly unacceptable, resulting in subscriber frustration and decreased consumer desirability for IPTV services. Considering the availability of Ethernet infrastructure in urban areas, new broadband services such as IPTV can be piggy-backed onto this infrastructure offering increased commercial profit potential. Strategies for the reselling of this service do not seem to be widely available. Thus, it is desired to investigate a procedure that will lead to the successful reselling of a commercially available IPTV service.
2.1. Current Trends in the IPTV Industry
The world of entertainment is rapidly changing, both in terms of the content that is consumed and the methods used to consume it. Traditional television broadcasting is fast being replaced by a range of new technologies and services that improve the efficiency and quality of content delivery. While there is still a high demand for conventional TV services, new services are increasingly being accessed via the Internet, with global content on-demand (GCoD) now being a ubiquitous and established technology. This is beginning to have a profound impact on people’s habits and, consequently, on potential opportunities for IPTV Reselling. The purpose of this guideline is to give an overview of the state-of-the-art in GCoD, before looking at the key trends that trickle down into consumer preferences and habits. Some discussion of the economic impact and challenges of this new world of GCoD is also provided, before an ending on high definition (HD) GCoD, which, as video quality continues to improve, is likely to pose increasing bandwidth demands on data delivery networks.
One of the key trends driving the ongoing change in the distribution and consumption of media content is the expanding viewing-carriage base. This is just as true for free or advertising funded services as it is for subscription based services, where, with increasing carriage possibilities and hence competition for audiences, advertising rates are likely to increase as dedicated outlets gain the viewing traffic of niche groups. Mobile viewing is also on the rise and efforts are now being made to try and reconcile the film and audio quality gap between the large screen and state-of-the-art domestic equipment and little, content limited, mobile device end-nodes. There is also some ongoing R&D and development activity attempting to take advantage of novel delivery mechanisms, such as broadband wireless access (BWA) 3. On the consumer side monobroadcast models are still popular (known in the US as the, not entirely accurate, 1:1 tuner to video device phenomenon). However, efforts to increase customer satisfaction by moving towards more personalized viewing experiences, which are also apparently extremely catchy in spite of the increase in the number of channels to zapping 1, have the additional benefit of selecting only a few channels of potential interest to view.
2.2. Identifying Target Audience
Having a profitable business does not only depend on the quality of the product. Before you approach people, you need to know your exact target audience first. It’s important to define the ideal customer profile in the IPTV reselling business. Analyzing your target audience will help to have a more successful business 3.
Demographics. Age, location, gender, income levels are the first details that need to be analyzed. Understanding the customer base efficiently will have a good start in business.
Interests. What are people in the target audience interested in? For example, does your audience typically watch sports channels, movies, news, or series? Is there any particular interest such as common culture, hobbies, or products? For example, preferably music channels instead of news channels to be added to the entertainment Plus package or add 3D movie channels to the high-speed package.
Behavior patterns. Understanding the behavior patterns of customers will also significantly increase engagement. Knowing what your customers want or how they think is the main reason to have a profitable business. For example, red may be the favorite color of your audience. Therefore, each time you send an email, design all images and headers with red.
Segmentation. Analyzing and dividing the market into specific groups will boost the customer base. Considering the maximum purchase and service possibilities of each group. Then divide the customers by package and focus on each group. Analyzing each group flexible, average, and high spenders. Survey Analysis: Normally this is the correct technique to understand the customer base. This is also a great way to get to know what customers want or don’t want 4. Competitor Analysis. A common approach for starting any of the businesses is surveying competitors. Understanding where the competitors are good and bad will always make the business better than others.
Understanding customer. Pain points, preferences, a further need, and where they consume their content is the next step in the process. Each of those will directly affect the services. If you offer something that a customer needs, the most probability that customer will close the sale about %75. Analyzing where customers consume the content is another crucial detail for the business. If the target audience is mainly watching the content as OTT devices, the business approach should be different. It is highly recommended to identify all these analysis and examine how to connect these services to the closed sales. After this analysis, you should have a clear understanding of how to reach the target audience and the services or products to focus on. In terms of this, creating a persona model to have better market understanding and fully analyze the strategies on reaching the target audience.
3. Setting Up Your Business
Before You Start: Avoiding Pitfalls
A well-planned business venture has a significantly lower chance of going bust within the first year. When it comes to reselling IPTV, good upfront planning is essential if you’re to dodge the many pitfalls you’re likely to encounter on your journey through the highly competitive world of TV over the internet. The first thing to get right is your choice of IPTV provider 2. Waste time and money on a second-rate outfit, and your business is dead in the water from the moment you start. Cancelled and unsatisfactory customer subscriptions are the biggest issue in the industry, leading to networks and businesses collapsing overnight. There are a few good ways to check the strength of a potential provider – carry out a wealth of background checks.
Firstly, search for user reviews of the company. Investigate and avoid any firm that hides their services under a rock, and ensure you have a full understanding of the performance of the company’s servers. Consider trialing a selection of services to evaluate their reliability. Don’t be drawn in by the compromised security of firm handshakes – find out if your business will be protected in the event of a takedown. Once you are certain your provider is genuine and trustworthy, it’s time to select your reseller packages 1. The packages will vary between providers, but there are certain aspects you should expect to see. Generally, packages will include a list of specific features; channel access, EPG access, panel usage, VPN access and more. The package will also include a set amount of credits, which buy you your TV service. Pay close attention to the cost of credits when looking to resell TV services. This is often the most expensive part of the reseller package and can greatly eat into profits. When considering a package, think about your likely outcomes – if you anticipate success than negotiate the best package for your company. Understand the company with which you are signing a contract, and be sure to understand the contract. Specifically, consider what payment methods are available, if additional logins are possible, the validity of credits and more. Before setting off, it’s time to make some practical considerations. You will need a mechanism for selling credits on to customers. There are many billing systems available – should you have a website there are even more available to you. Consider how you will manage customer support, as it can often be a time-enhancing feature, it will drain your enthusiasm before the money starts to roll. Finally, protect yourself legally – ensure you are compliant with all applicable laws from the beginning. Address any potential future issues immediately.
3.1. Choosing a Reputable IPTV Provider
Starting an internet protocol television (IPTV) reselling business is a great way to make extra money by taking advantage of the booming IPTV industry. The popularity of IPTV is increasing and there is plenty of room for competition, allowing resellers to build an IPTV customer base very quickly. However, not all IPTV providers are equal, so it is imperative to choose wisely when selecting a partner. This guide explains the critical factors to consider when picking a provider and questions to ask up front to mitigate potential risks for newcomers.
Choosing an IPTV provider is the most critical choice in building a successful IPTV reselling business. There are many factors that play into selecting a reputable provider and not all providers are equal. The first and foremost evaluation should be the quality of service of the potential provider . This is the most important aspect to be considered because, ultimately, it determines the quality that subscribers will receive. The service quality review should include channel up-time, latency, usability, customer service, and other various factors as personal preferences allow.
The most critical factors to consider when evaluating the quality of an IPTV service are channel variety, server stability, video quality, stream buffering, plan options, branding options, and scope of device compatibility . Price alone should not be the deciding factor, as there are many providers who offer cut-rate pricing but at the expense of everything else. Remember, there is ‘you get what you pay for’ parameters that apply and since an IPTV reselling business is essentially selling a service, the service purchased for selling is the most fundamental aspect. After evaluating the quality of the provider, consider the provider’s business and technological practices. Conduct thorough research, including Google searches, forums, Facebook groups, or anything else that can uncover practices that may hinder one’s business or potential to gain profit. Ensure any potential provider has a strong industry reputation and has been around for some time. A new or unknown provider may take the investment and not live up to the ethical obligation for their promised service. Reliability, uptime, and customer support service is crucial to a provider as a reseller. This is a service based business, which means a provider can have the best channels in the industry, but if those channels are consistently down or full of buffering, it will result in high customer turnover rates. Even if everything is perfect on the front end, customers will still encounter issues that require direct interaction with the provider, so the provider’s service needs to be in place. Check to see if the provider offers help desk or other ticket support services and that they are not relying solely on a reseller panel. Many providers are investing money in panels that allow customers to do everything from access the service to copy EPG information. While these panels may be helpful to a provider’s set a limit on overall efficiency and the actual reselling opportunities available. Another critical indication of business and industry practice is how transparent and forthcoming a provider is with information from the onset. Be wary of providers that are unclear about contractual terms, including pricing, refund policies, and service level agreements whether all providers are created equal or ethical. A good provider should be willing to answer any questions and provide all necessary information down to the most granular detail. The questions being posed to the provider should also shed more light on their readiness for resellers and act as further due diligence on the potential services being purchased.
3.2. Selecting Reseller Packages
One of the most important considerations for an IPTV reseller is choosing the right reseller package. Choosing a good reseller package is critical in starting an IPTV business, and providers can offer different packages. By considering the target audience, market objectives, package costs, and channel offerings from providers, one should choose which to start with. Most providers are renting streams; when they run out, they just shut down. Therefore, providers with flexible packages or packages that can be scaled will be needed. Make sure to read and understand the full terms and conditions before buying a reseller pack.
There are important things to know first, such as MG connections, simultaneous connections, panels filled with credit restrictions so vendors cannot use any other panels, or having to buy a panel from the provider with credits that expire in 30 days. Businesses might consider paying a bit more for a panel so nothing has to fight with bans or bad quality panels slowing down the set-up process. It is also worth throwing providers an offer 100% of the time. Different offers might be able to be made until one is agreed upon. Never overpay; always try to secure great pricing right away. Use the free trials it offers to check quality and channel offerings, then leverage these trials as long as possible to get the best promotions from providers. Try to get 2–7 days trials, and cap these trials at five from the same provider to ensure the best rate and deal 4.
Why are our services good?
Money Back Guarannted
Within 7 days of your purchase you have the option to cancel our IPTV subscription if you are not satisfied. Then you will receive a full refund from us.
Channels & VOD
IPTV subscription includes more than 19,000 channels and more than 90,000 movies and TV shows from 50 different countries. With channels for movies, music, sports.
Live Support 24/7
Live Support 24/7: Our dedicated team is available around the clock to provide you with real-time assistance and ensure your IPTV experience is seamless and worry-free.
4. Marketing Strategies
Develop your Brand Identity – Give people a reason to trust you by developing your brand identity. You are going to be amazed at how investing some extra time in coming up with a great name and slogan for your new venture can help in establishing yourself very quickly in the retail business. Best of all, once you have your brand identity, all you then need to do is knock it up on your new products, your website, social media and business cards and there is your business. You wouldn’t buy a new television if it was just sitting on grass would you? – The same goes for your website. Would you invest money on a product that doesn’t even have a packaging or a label on it? This is effectively what you’re doing if you start your business without a professional website 5. You don’t need a $10,000 website, but there are plenty of great website development companies out there that can give you a professional site for $1000 or less.
Create a strong online presence – A strong online presence involves a number of things, most of which you will already know you should be doing. As recommendations and a to-do list – Create a professional website – This is your shop front. Your website is where your customers are going to be and they will make a judgement about your business based on the website. So, make it good; Create a range of business cards; Create and maintain a LinkedIn profile; Set up Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and any other relevant social media profiles and remind people to follow you; Research and sign up to a local business directory website. There are usually a few around the place; Sign up to Yelp, Trust Pilot, Google My Business, and all the major online review websites; Sign up to a local business Facebook leads group; Use Canva to make advertisements 6. Post these advertisements on all of your social media websites; SEO the website; Create a Google AdWord or Facebook advertising account; Write a monthly blog; Set up a Google Analytics account; Advertise with Google AdWord; Offer giveaways to encourage people to follow your profiles; Create continual marketing content; Do it!
4.1. Building a Brand Identity
Building a brand identity that resonates with the target market is at the core of any business, big or small. Those who do not develop a distinct and recognizable brand often get lost in the crowd of overwhelming competition. Branding involves all the elements that set you apart from your competitor, in a way that inspires trust and recognition in the target audience. This includes consistent social media branding, logo design, color schemes, and messaging that resonates with the target market and keyword strategy that embeds the brand identity of a business in the mind of potential customers. Consistency across all these channels is paramount; it requires that consumers can trust you, as well as can identify you by your branding. A successful brand creates a value proposition that is unique to it and resonates with the target market, while the most memorable brands are those that have compelling stories at their core 7. Basically, brand stories pose certain values, have certain (ethical) goals and aim to create specific customer experiences. It looks more like a mission statement.
A good starting point for building a brand identity is to consider the key messages that will resonate with the target market. Relevant questions include – what problems do customers need solved? Why should customers be hired for those jobs? What makes them uniquely qualified? For many small businesses operating in industries with a high level of commoditization and price competition, answering these questions can be a means of creating a unique value proposition (UVP). These questions are not just about the business, but about the customers who will be attracted by this brand. Use this messaging to establish an emotional connection with the target market through storytelling that represents what is in line with it. In this way, the target market and all stakeholders come to believe in this brand. Be very careful in minimizing any gap between what the brand says on the market and what it does (consistently showing the best version of a business). Reflectance is a brand of values in every interaction with the customer, which often results in greater customer loyalty and a strong position of the company in the market.
4.2. Effective Online Marketing Techniques
Starting a profitable business is one thing, but sustaining it is another challenge in itself. As a business owner, staying ahead of your competitors is likely a top priority. Incorporating effective online marketing strategies into your IPTV reselling business is important. These techniques give you an edge in the lucrative and fast-growing market, making the most of the online marketplace . It goes without saying that your IPTV services are only as good as the customers who know about them. This is why search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for success. This is the process of making your online content as search engine friendly as possible with the ultimate goal of making the visibility of your site better in search results. The easier it is for customers to find your IPTV services online, the more money is in your pocket; as simple as that.
Real strong SEO allows potential customers to learn about your IPTV reselling services by typing relevant search queries into a search engine. Your content is a strong weapon, so use it smartly. Whether you heard the saying “Content is King” before or not is not important. The search engine’s algorithm likes informative, relevant, and more importantly unique content. In simple terms, the more informative and unique content is on your website, the better search engine visibility will be. A smart IPTV reseller has a frequently updated blog dedicated to the niche. It is important that the content you create adds value to the users’ lives. This can be in the form of answering a query about which android box is the best for streaming or providing a guide on buying and opting for an IPTV Subscription. Providing valuable information in an entertainment way not only engages with readers but also establishes an authorial position in the field. This promotes repeat visitors as well as loyalty as the online user will prefer to do business with the brand they trust. Without a doubt, a successful strategy that any IPTV reseller should include in the marketing mix is the social media marketing strategy. There are 3.196 billion people actively using social media platforms worldwide which indicates that approximately 42% of the population participates in social networks. This number is only expected to grow as social media is a staple of the 21st-century lifestyle. Well-known social networks like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram have become an effortless way for consumers to access virtually any information they need. Using options like the “click for more” section can provide the referral revenue and improve the overall KPI of a campaign. Still, includes over 2 million networks want to say that for a successfully converting campaign each and single detail behind it needs to be planned and tailored for niche interests. However, on many social media platforms like Facebook, video content is the number one way to reach a larger audience. Remember that YouTube is a video content platform with over 1,9 billion users who often aren’t targeted by Facebook or Instagram campaigns. To reach a further audience, consider uploading promotional and informative video content using a platform like YouTube. Just like with IPTV content – quality is everything. A professional recording of the content will keep users watching longer and will help build the trustworthiness of the business. Additionally, videos can be monetized in more than one way. Compliance with the program policies almost always guarantees that the channel will be approved, meaning it will bring a fixed amount of additional monthly revenue easily scalable with multiple or niche channels. Ad revenue aside, the review or setup video itself can generate additional revenue due to the nature of the subject. A well-crafted exposé of smart mobile and its special features can generate overlays via the mobile manufacturer directly. Furthermore, having a review of a movie or a paid documentary being promoted by the IPTV provider can create financial gain using a get-over-one-thousand-views route. There is so much content that can be turned into video money but it should always contain valuable information. Working closely alongside the niche client, they can run a number of campaigns focused on the same niche delivery results on a weekly basis. Be it social media content or dedicated emails too supportive procedures like Pay-per-click campaigns or remarketing; positive results are most likely to happen on the retargeting of exclusive niche channels reducing CPC. The platform that allows for re-engagement with users who have visited a website but have not completed the desired action. Each smart campaign will collect necessary data which can be analyzed on a weekly basis. Choice for a comprehensive and easy to read report culminating the actions off the back of conclusions taken. Make sure that the conclusions include positive outcomes.
Resellers Plans
€110
- 24 Trial = 0 credit
- 1 MONTHS = 0.1 credit
- 3 MONTHS = 0.3 credit
- 6 MONTHS = 0.6 credit
- 12 MONTHS = 1 credit
- 24 MONTHS = 1.8 credit
€200
- 24 Trial = 0 credit
- 1 MONTHS = 0.1 credit
- 3 MONTHS = 0.3 credit
- 6 MONTHS = 0.6 credit
- 12 MONTHS = 1 credit
- 24 MONTHS = 1.8 credit
€290
- 24 Trial = 0 credit
- 1 MONTHS = 0.1 credit
- 3 MONTHS = 0.3 credit
- 6 MONTHS = 0.6 credit
- 12 MONTHS = 1 credit
- 24 MONTHS = 1.8 credit
€850
- 24 Trial = 0 credit
- 1 MONTHS = 0.1 credit
- 3 MONTHS = 0.3 credit
- 6 MONTHS = 0.6 credit
- 12 MONTHS = 1 credit
- 24 MONTHS = 1.8 credit
€450
- 24 Trial = 0 credit
- 1 MONTHS = 0.1 credit
- 3 MONTHS = 0.3 credit
- 6 MONTHS = 0.6 credit
- 12 MONTHS = 1 credit
- 24 MONTHS = 1.8 credit
5. Customer Support and Retention
The reselling business is very profitable if customer support is consistent with the quality of the service provided. Maintaining good communication with customers is very important. The average customer expects a response within 6 hours after an inquiry. Customers always want quality service and they prefer fast and efficient response to their questions. To better serve customers, a customer support team or advanced support ticket system should be provided. In live support, getting an immediate and correct answer can usually solve the problem in a short time. But problems that cannot be solved instantly should be followed up in a short time. Customer retention is always more important than acquiring new customers. Various loyalty programmes can be organized to retain customers. An e-mail should be sent month-to-month to inform the customer about the campaigns, promotions, etc. so that they know the company and that the service they should be receiving is valued.
To better serve customers, feedback should always be listened to, and services should be improved and placed above expectations. Precautionary customer support must be provided to answer questions that may arise to the customer immediately without waiting for the subscriber to ask questions. Furthermore, guides for subscribers should be prepared to solve simple technical problems or frequently asked questions 3. If the subscriber does not experience what they paid for, the service means nothing, and the customer usually gives up the service. Therefore, the customer should be educated and the necessary resources should always be provided to check the IPTV internet speed etc., necessary programs for their device. With these, the customer should be able to take the necessary measures to remove interruptions on their own without any help 8. The subscriber must then provide the service and a sustainable customer relationship can be built up thanks to the communication. Ultimately customer retention is achieved, and it is possible to achieve this by reducing the churn rate by always keeping the customer ready with everything needed.
5.1. Providing Excellent Customer Service
Excellent customer service is essential in IPTV reselling. Promptly responding to customers inquiries will increase customer satisfaction and resolution satisfaction; customers will have their issues completely resolved the first time, ensuring no need for follow-up and leaving a positive experience to remember. Customers seeking help regarding the same issue multiple times may become unsatisfied. Thus, staff must be trained properly and customer service agents must be equipped with tools and techniques to assist customers in any possible scenario. It is important that every communication with a customer is handled with empathy, understanding and patience. This will not only help customers more quickly and easily but will often lead to creating a rapport between the customer and customer service agent, potentially becoming loyal repeat customers. Empathy can usually be heard over the phone, so training should stress the importance of voice tone. It is good practice to maintain a friendly, calm and caring tone when speaking with IPTV customers. Additionally, support should be implemented across multiple channels. Although email is a good starting point, live chat and social media support are also fantastic options that cater to consumers preferring to use different methods of contact. In the long-term, customer satisfaction metrics should be tracked closely and rigorously. Actively tracking these will provide an understanding of what works well and what needs improvement 2. There are a few well-known difficulties that should be planned for as an IPTV reseller. There will be bad re-stream providers and downtime. Bad re-stream providers are a significant and well-documented problem in the IPTV reseller community that cannot be prepared for. It is important to have multiple back-ups in place for such situations. At the same time, downtime is inevitable and must be managed carefully. While downtime may be inevitable, it is crucial to make sure that it is minimized. Ideally this can be done by ensuring customers are given service which is as reliable as possible. Paid IPTV services need to provide a high uptime guarantee; a good goal is 99.5%. Potential customers should be directed towards this in the branding of the service. The aforementioned statistics should be transparent and available to customers. Prior to signing with a re-stream provider, it may be worthwhile to ask for and inspect proof of uptime 1.
5.2. Implementing Retention Strategies
Being an IPTV reseller doesn’t stop at just selling the service. Retaining subscribers and keeping them engaged with the service is the key to long-term success. This subsection will cover a gamut of retention strategies that can be implemented to foster a lasting fruitful relationship with subscribers 9.
The most effective way to retain customers is to offer them with benefits that others aren’t. Offering loyalty programs, providing exclusive perks to customers who have been loyal for a certain amount of time, or even discounting plans for long-term subscribers are ways to enhance customer loyalty 8. Personalization always plays an important role in making customers feel valued. Personalized communications or content recommendations can remind the customers that the reseller is thinking of them. Sending the occasional follow-up or check-in email to make sure that they’re satisfied with the service can foster trust between both parties. Real-time insights can also be acquired by setting up surveys or simply asking customers what they love about the service and what could be improved. Regular education blogs or landing pages can be created, guiding the customers on how they can maximize their IPTV experience with the reseller. This will allow the customers to address potential pain points before they become big concerns, preventing churn eventually.
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6. Legal and Regulatory Considerations
As a reseller intending to offer subscription services, there are many laws, regulations, and agreements that it might need to comply with if it does. One of the significant categories of laws that apply are copyright laws. Typically, copyright law is enforced by something like the United States Copyright Act, but in the United States many states also have their own copyright laws. Another category of laws that could apply are licensing laws. For example, in the United States, a small business wanting to play music for its customers needs two separate licenses for that music – one from the copyright owner of the song, and a separate license from the copyright owner of the recording of the song. These consumer-friendly legal labels do not mean much to the service provider. The IPTV service provider is likely to want to pay someone for such licenses, but whether these licenses are grandfathered to customers who pay for a subscription is far from clear. In short, any competent reseller should make sure it is in compliance with all the laws applicable to the services it offers. In the absence of that, any reseller should at least stay informed enough to pretend to an investigating authority that it did not know what the heck was going on 10.
In the United States, “broadcasting” falls under the umbrella of what is called “communications law,” and is governed by the two major statutes of the Communications Act of 1934, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. These laws provide a bedrock of regulations that could apply to the provision of IPTV services. The most important of these regulations concern: a) what kind of content can be broadcast; b) how, when, and where it can be shown; and c) what reporting and contribution requirements are created thereby. The regulations are heavily context-dependent, and too broad to address. As a result, any reseller who intends to do things by the book (or at least pretend to a judge that it is doing things by the book) should stay informed about what laws apply to a reseller’s particular context. Generally speaking, in the United States, if one is on the receiving end of a notice for inadvertently violating these laws, it’s probably already too late. The potential fines are so severe (more than $1 million) for even small violations, that any prudent businessperson would have done better to have stayed informed of its obligations (and changed its activities as a result) from the outset. But these laws and duties are different for each country and change that varies by location; it is therefore recommended that any reseller stays constantly up-to-date about what laws apply to it before proceeding at all.
6.1. Copyright and Licensing Issues
Starting in the IPTV business exposes one to a host of legal considerations. This subsection presents an actionable discussion of copyright and licensing issues, saving other potential legal questions for future work 10. Resellers need to secure rights to content, and the transmission over the Internet isn’t a small consideration here. The high-level approach to finding answers to legal questions, which was used here involves talking to people in the field, in this case, cable service providers and lawyers. The resulting answers are couched normally, as each person has a different risk tolerance. In hope, it is nonetheless useful to know the questions that should be asked. Starting an online business today is possible due to technological advancements. As a result, a number of IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services have appeared that allow consumers to legally access huge quantities of video content wherever there happens to be internet.
Viewers watch streams over the internet, using an application. They negotiate with a server to send a copyright license to the viewer. The server sends out the multicast as well and has a routing infrastructure to send to the right places. On the viewer side, it is also possible to catch the unicast without a server, if the IP addresses of the server and viewer can be discovered. But sending the multicast there is no such concern. Distributors are said to want the provider to have underlying rights to distribute the content. If they catch one doing it unlicensed, they can file a claim. Streaming video therefore is a problem from a copyright perspective. A good starting point is to understand what the content should be doing in this context. Initially taken is the position that streamers should have underlying rights to distribute content over the internet, while unicast streams might have to be sent encrypted. This later assumption is solely based on discussions. In preparing a case, start with making several distinctions. Any content distribution rights are different from, say, performance rights. Retailers have to pay different people because performing the music is different from selling the disc. Similarly, movies have copyright protection, so ‘publicly performing’ them and distributing them is treated separately. That means; and for the record, distribution includes multicast. From the other side, it is possible to buy a DVD and then stream from it though a core (a paid option). However, the DVD cannot be sold to 100 people to put in their DVD players. This is a very different right, the rental right. Thus, leasing a Blink and opening up a store is… arguable. Nevertheless, not every right holder works on a buy it or else basis. Some have a live it or else system agreement. Cable companies pay a blanket commission for rights to a vast array of programming. These relations are not public. This is a way for things to stay kosher. Some agreements are very transparent in what they allow. Can republish all kinds of sports radio shows, just with a disclaimer. So, there is some suggestion of things to add to licences. Note that these licensees are not hard to come by, and can ask customers to sign such an agreement before entering a license agreement. If something like this is already in place, the client chooses a very good one (from this perspective). On some level this seems like everyone-settles-on-what’s-allowed (or doesn’t settle). In general, the notion is to operate as clearly as possible, then play the ‘I didn’t know I couldn’t’ card. This is no guarantee that one can’t get lucky, or that there aren’t already clients with troubling arrangements. But given that the reselling isn’t likely to go after people in the same business, it is a low enough risk.
6.2. Compliance with IPTV Regulations
To deliver a profitable IPTV reselling business successfully, it’s crucial to understand regulations concerning the IPTV marketplace. IPTV, or Internet Protocol Television, is a service which delivers video and television programming over IP. IPTV services are typically provided by telecommunication and broadband companies, using an end-to-end internet network. IPTV services are much like traditional television services, and comply with national and international regulations pertaining to radio or broadcast transmissions. IPTV providers must detect, compress, and precisely manage multicast video signals which are then streamed through an IP network to set-top boxes. IPTV is a novel service delivery platform, and complies with a significantly different set of regulations compared to traditional television broadcast services. Therefore, to avoid potential pitfalls, it is imperative to understand the general regulatory framework applying to IPTV networks, and constantly review and adapt business practices.
First of all, it is important to emphasize that it is strongly recommended to seek legal guidance before jumping into reselling IPTV services. This article is not legal advice, but it can be a good starting point to delve into the topic. At a minimum, reselling partners should sign a binding contract with a legitimate IPTV service provider. Some resellers perceive they can safely operate using prepaid credit card payment plans. Creditcard purchases can be easily traced by the service provider, and can thus de-anonymize resellers operating contrary to the terms and services of the service provider. It is easy to think nothing can happen when resellers operate from a home office. Though resellers might be subpoenaed by police investigations after they track service irregularities or stolen credit card numbers. In some jurisdictions, minor penalties apply for resellers operating without a license. But major penalties include huge fines and even jail time for knowing or conspiring infringement of the copyright law or the misuse of credit cards. These fines can easily translate in the total confiscation of equipment and traffic, and ultimately to permanent closure of the business. Ready-to-use NTRIP solutions coming with the so-called preloaded credits might not appear to contravene strict legal texts, but ultimately do contravene the GP ITALIA agreement. IPTV industry regulators are always working on new regulations, and in the present unsettled, grey area of copyright and technology convergence, all industry actors better be prepared to respond. There might be no immediate concrete output from such a subpoena, but reselling without having in place legally secure operations is likely to be a very small exit-strategy. To continue a profitable business, and to promote a legitimate marketplace for IPTV the following strategies are recommended: Get informed, Stay informed, Regularly check the rules with an industry association or seek legal advice, and Document every step towards implementing legal IPTV compliance in order to be able to defend commercially reasonable efforts in the unlikely case of becoming subpoenaed by investigators and questioned on IP infringement 1.
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7. Scaling Your Business
If you are converting leads into subscribers, you have a sales funnel. Creating a strong sales funnel means having a responsive website, strategic advertising, and a compelling presentation of your service. It also means meticulously tracking your customers’ preferences and behavior. After all, a sales funnel is only as good as the data it’s built on. Examining recent market trends—nationwide and local—alongside the feedback of your current customers will help you decide how to expand. That feedback should highlight the add-on channels users are looking for and the weaknesses in your service otherwise unnoticed. Furthermore, there are countless opportunities to improve within the service agreement itself. Price, bundling options, and amount of provided connections along with the obvious—stream flow—may well need reassessment. Keep in mind you need to have periodically emerging promotions to bring in new subscribers, as well as keep your current customers satisfied 1.
Diversifying your product offerings to include complementary services is another issue to consider. A broader service agreement can draw in markets too large and currently untapped. It also helps insulate your revenue from inevitable fluctuations in the IPTV market. Better to be prepared for this outcome. Keep in mind that if your product diversification includes new premium packages, it is equally important to add new budget options 11. Efforts spent cultivating the various tiers of products will prove just as vital to reseller revenue as the IPTV reselling services themselves. Scaling a business is often more challenging than starting one. It requires a precise and unimagined understanding of supply and demand dynamics. Failure to optimize operations during this process can lead to a boondoggle, but with the right tools in place, it should be possible to maintain the same level of service quality while scaling operations.
7.1. Expanding Your Customer Base
The most important step of starting a profitable IPTV reselling business is, of course, growing your customer base. Identifying the right target audience is already half of the outreach success. Deciding what methods and messaging to use will come easy once the target audience is established. Clearly knowing what subsets of people should be reached is very helpful in the context of understanding how your marketing strategy should proceed. Different groups of people require different marketing campaigns. Once the target audience is understood well enough, plan out the best way to reach that demographic. Use all of the channels available to create the broadest reach. Be ready to cover a few methods or outreach efforts, but the more comprehensively they’re covered, the better the chances of success 1. Digital marketing has proven to be very effective for most types of outreach. It’s recommended considering social media marketing, email campaigns, and influencer marketing. Every effort counts, and combined campaigns have a much broader reach. Many people will need to see ads several times before they decide to subscribe. Increase the odds by being exposed to different channels. For example, social media campaigns should be reinforced by emails or video ads on different platforms. It’s wise to put effort into luring subscribers in from the YouTube channels they watch, or blogs they read. Reach out to content creators directly, run paid ad campaigns, or arrange to droop ads in popular social media groups. With any influencer collaboration, make sure it’s simply not a big name talking about your service. The campaign has to be engaging and compelling to catch people’s attention. Give out free trials, discounts, or even special give-a-ways to boost subscription conversion rates 4.
7.2. Diversifying Your Product Offerings
IPTV resellers, like other business owners, always seek to enhance their competitiveness and sales numbers. A time came when simply selling standard IPTV plans alone is no longer enough. Although one can capitalise on the status quo for now, it is crucial to come up with a solid long-term plan that involves diversification of the product offerings. When the market is flooded with resellers offering the same services, IPTV resellers should expand their portfolio to attract new customer segments and differentiate themselves from the competition.
One of the ways to venture beyond standard IPTV offerings is to include alternative solutions. For example, streaming device resellers could bundle their products with an IPTV subscription and vise-versa. Additionally, IPTV resellers could explore premium content not widely available with standard plans. Sports, foreign, or 24/7 channels might appeal to a more general audience who will not find the content on popular services. Those who are not keen on rebranding standard IPTV services could consider niche channel offerings. Streaming IPTV with limited categories (news, entertainment, kids’ channels) or availability (regional programming) might find traction with select audiences. Similarly, it may be beneficial to investigate opportunities for cross-selling and upselling. Companion services, such as high-speed internet plans for HD streaming, or one-time relevant purchases for the main offering, the hardware requirements, can be used to increase the bottom line, while not harming the current business 3. These endeavours can be greatly aided by conducting market analysis on a periodic basis to identify the existing gaps and emerging opportunities. Moreover, testing new products with a smaller audience and monitoring the feedback from regular buyers can ensure the products meet the market requirements. Careful preparation will allow for a comprehensive plan B that adapts to possible current market fluctuations and the changing tastes and preferences of the consumers 1. Regardless of the chosen strategy, diversification is crucial to the long-term sustainability and growth of the business. Withstanding the adversities of the market is only achievable by solid planning.
1. Place your order
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8. Conclusion
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