Web Site to host videos and charge for downloading

Muliyan
Member

Can anyone recommed a video hosting site, where I can upload my videos and charge the users to download?

Thanks

Posted 5 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

Set one up yourself! :) Seriously, if you have enough stock footage, you can probably afford to set up your own site. Places like godaddy.com will give you a domain name, website space, and email addresses for under $100 a year. I've spent more than that on newspaper ads, and my website gets a lot more done than all the newspaper ads I've ever had.

You'll need to have some technical knowledge to set up a website, or at least the capacity to learn, but if you're able to edit videos and convert them to downloadable formats, surely this isn't a challenge for ya.

Once your site is up and running, buy advertisement. Use the google adwords system, as that's what more and more sellers are using these days. Plus you get fairly good returns on it. I've always been happy with Google's ad performance.

And make sure your site is index-able by search engines. include those meta tags! Spiders and bots love 'em!

Another idea for advertising once your site is done is to use Google Video. Upload a low to medium quality copy of your video to Google video, and put the location of your site where they can buy the video in the description. Then, instead of just regular old advertising, you've got an actual demo of the video they would pay for. Plus, then you can suck up Google's bandwidth instead of your own for showing files.

I've never used someone else's service to sell videos, mainly because I make videos for private parties. Doing stock footage and B-roll production isn't something I've done professionally, though I think the ideas above might work well for you.

Good luck!

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

You'll need to have some technical knowledge to set up a website, or at least the capacity to learn, but if you're able to edit videos and convert them to downloadable formats, surely this isn't a challenge for ya.

I have to take issue with that statement!

The ability to setup a successful website requires extensive and up-to-date knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, possibly Flash, and certainly Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and requires a fast and stable hosting server.

If you want to have eCommerce and dynamic interactivity, you must add to that list: knowledge of a server-side programming language like PHP and database training (like MySQL or SQL Server, etc.).

All this requires more training and time than would be prudent for the average business person / videographer, to invest. That leaves two choices - have a site that looks amateurish and/or does not take full advantage of all that the Web offers, or hire a pro.

Saying that a videographer should be able to do a professional job with setting up his website is like saying a web developer should be able to produce professional videos.

I do both, and I can truthfully say that web development requires more know-how than videography.

I think this is the first time I've found one of Jim's posts that I can really disagree with. Jim normally gives solid video advice, but I'd take his web development advice with a grain of salt. :)

Case in point - although Jim's site looks great and is in the wedding listing services, which show up well in Google, his actual website does not list on the first page when searching "wedding video Buffalo MN". Some serious SEO work could correct that. SEO guys spend many hours each month, just to keep up with their trade - something none of us would have the time to do (although I used to do it).

Very few of us would have the time or inclination to learn enough to do as well as Jim has with his site - and even his site could do a lot more for him.

Posted 5 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

Ah, you've pointed out my own fatal flaw in my own site.

Yeah, after I set up the initial site design, I pretty much left it there, without doing any search engine optimization at all. Honestly, it's probably a good thing, because right now I've already got more than enough business to keep my busy. I keep telling myself that when I get time, I'll fix that, but I rarely have free time, it would seem!

I do agree that websites are a totally different beast than videography. However, both are technical trades that rely on computers. If you can do either one, you're going to have to have mastered PC basics at some point. So while you do have to learn a whole new trade to do one or the other, my assumption is that it would be easier for a videographer who uses PC's every day to learn web dev than, say, an accountant who doesn't need a computer for their job, but they do own a 386 running DOS 4 for word processing.

Most professional fields are either left brain or right brain jobs. Videography and web development are two places where you have to use both, which is why I think that it would be easier for one of these tradesmen to learn the other trade than it would be for many other positions.

Anyway, enough of that. I've got weddings to edit! :P

Posted 5 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

Although, I do have to agree with one big aspect of what you said. Taking the time to get down to business with a website is hard.

My site was practically an afterthought when I was restarting my business. I had the unique luck of running into several video clients before I had even finished officially "going back into business", thanks to my old demo video and some word of mouth. So while I was getting gear, filming a wedding, and on and on, this website issue came up, and I had to get it done. I started doing a flash-intensive site, but after a couple days, I had more phone calls coming in from local ads, and I just resorted to sticking up what's there now. I think about 70% of the site was even created in Frontpage, which is something I didn't like doing, and I don't reccomend to anyone else out there. Frontpage is nice for building basic html pages, but it has too many proprietary tags and bots that don't play nice with other sites, and you pretty much cut your hands off when you get into incorporating php, scripting of any sort, or anything at all that requires a good handle on your webpages, since Frontpage is famous for changing your html to what it thinks is best. But that's another rant for another day.

Anyway, I should have said that if you have the time to take it on, you should. IF not, you should efinitely hire a pro to take care of it. Either way, websites are absolutely essential for a business in this day in age. YOu can sell your stuff trough other sites, but when you do that, you're losing some of your profit to middle men anyway. Why not just spend what you would lose to them on your own site?

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Your site was not a very good example for me to use for why a videographer shouldn't do their own website, because you've really done a good job.

Having said that, a videographer's site can include a "Check Date Availability" page and can allow clients to book their date and make their deposit payment online. That's how I get most of my business - I get the money before I ever even communicate with the clients - but usually after they've ordered a demo video, which again is all done online without any human interaction.

It can also have a "My Info" page for clients who have paid their deposits. This page collects all the info we'll need from the couple, while it does suggestive selling for add-ons, etc. The site also allows clients to choose their own payment plan and make convenient, regular payments toward their balance.

I'd written similiar stuff for other clients, so when the time came to setup our own site, I just copied the code and made small adjustments.

Now that we're in our second year of operation, (I was out of the business for over a decade), we're so busy that I haven't had time to keep the site updated or massage our SEO position, so I know where you're coming from, in that respect.

In my non-existent spare time, I'm working on a user-maintainable, customizable version of our site to sell to other videographers (so naturally, I'm going to be against the idea of them doing their own sites!) X-D

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I think we've subverted the poster's original question though. Knowing the best sites to deal with for selling videos would be a good idea. After all, it takes too much work to setup a website for each and every video you produce in order to best optimize it to sell that video.

A general purpose video sales site would at least have an audience of those interested in buying videos - something that would take a lot of time and effort to do on top of the effort we must already spend on optimizing for those looking for video services.

Posted 5 years ago #
Furball
Member

You could always try http://www.video.google.com
MF

Posted 5 years ago #
videolab
Member

Like furball was saying you can sell your videos directly through google video.

Posted 5 years ago #