Howdy webdesignerforumers!

 

I'm Antony, from West Yorks, and by day I produce promotional video content for companies etc. By night I (attempt to) produce (terribly designed) websites. It's mainly hobby type stuff or basic stuff for local music "artistes" and nothing I would ever try and charge for. Though I'm kinda hoping resources like this forum might help with that.

 

Anyways my day job has led to producing video for the web on a few occasions (including one "walk on web" type project which went 4 months over budget due to "technical difficulties" but lets not dwell on that) and one thing I have noticed is very few web design companies advertise anything video relatated in their "services" on their websites.

 

I was just kinda wondering what peeps experiences of using any kind of video company have been and if it's ever something their clients have asked for or if there's any kind of demand out there.

 

I also noticed on here alot of dodgy looking requests for what seems to be peeps looking for web designers to work for free. If someone has an idea for a business venture which would benefit from having a web pro person partner up on the project is there a way of finding such a person without offending everyone on the forum?

 

I mean I was once approached through a similar forum to partner with a gym on an online fitness video site. They wanted video clips of work outs their members could access at home similar to what mens health has for paid members. They could only offer payment at the back end (similar to a participation deal for DVD) and if it worked i'd see more money over time than I would if i'd simply billed them upfront-which I know they would have struggled to pay. Anyways I gave it a chance and in the end it went tits up as someone did a runner with the contents of the safe and insurance wouldnt pay out due to some technicality and they eventually closed.

 

Though I would hope there are people on here with more positive stories than that?

Welcome to the forum mate I have done a lot of sites with video producers and no horror stories, sorry to hear yours!

Hello and welcome to WDF

 

I haven't really come across many people that wanted video production but I suppose it depends on the company and what their customers expect from them. If you want to follow this route then best of luck to you, I'm sure there are many clients out there that would want video production.

 

Personally I wouldn't work on the whim of **possible** payment down the line because in my experience, most of these people are scam artists. If they don't pay something upfront, then they're usually not worth bothering with. Sorry to anyone who is honest but most people in this day and age are not honest, they have excuses for everything and have no intention of paying you in the first place.

 

Be careful!

Hello

 

And welcome - you will learn lots here and hopefully some new friends.

 

B

Hello and welcome to WDF

 

I haven't really come across many people that wanted video production but I suppose it depends on the company and what their customers expect from them. If you want to follow this route then best of luck to you, I'm sure there are many clients out there that would want video production.

 

Personally I wouldn't work on the whim of **possible** payment down the line because in my experience, most of these people are scam artists. If they don't pay something upfront, then they're usually not worth bothering with. Sorry to anyone who is honest but most people in this day and age are not honest, they have excuses for everything and have no intention of paying you in the first place.

 

Be careful!

Thanks for the kind welcomes everyone!!!

 

I think it's strange that there isn't more video out there. It's not like it's the mid 90s when corporate video was REALLY expensive!!!

 

I totally agree that there are too many scam artists out there and you can't trust way too many people which is really sad. There's lots of great ideas out there which probably won't see the light of day until the economic climate changes, the government tells us we are all rich again and the banks start lending money to business start ups again....so never

 

I gotta ask; if you were to work on something where payment comes in after the work is done from the site once it's live, are there not ways of protecting your work so if the client doesn't pay up you can take the site down until they do?

I think it's strange that there isn't more video out there. It's not like it's the mid 90s when corporate video was REALLY expensive!!!

 

very true, it seems to be more of a niche for large companies and small e-book writers. I suppose with the rise of sites like youtube, a lot of people are neglecting video documentation and product comparison e.t.c because a lot of "fans" create good guides for popular products, which tends to mean a lot more in the eyes of a customer.

 

I gotta ask; if you were to work on something where payment comes in after the work is done from the site once it's live, are there not ways of protecting your work so if the client doesn't pay up you can take the site down until they do?

 

well sure if you get a proper deal where contracts are signed, but I think a lot of work that flies around is small fry stuff which tends not to warrant a contract because it is insignificant. Business is always going to be a calculated risk, as long as you know a bad apple when you see one, its easy to walk away. the only other thing you can do if you are unsure about the future of a job, is moderate your content in a suitable way, which prompts the client to pay up as requested.... an example of this could be missing functions or access rules (providing you have control of the project).

 

you also have to consider the fact that a smaller company may become bankrupt once your work is complete, if you don't have a proper one-on-one relationship with them then chances are you will never see your payment because they will disappear overnight. this is why I prefer to get at least 50% upfront, to guarantee some earnings for the work carried out.

 

don't be put off by what I'm saying, this is all a big "what if" and most of the time these things don't happen, but it is better to be aware of it and not have it happen, than not be aware of it and lose everything you worked for. I've experienced this on both edges of the sword so I suppose I'm a little cynical, but I know there are good people and companies out there who will pay as agreed, so it shouldn't stop anyone trying.

Welcome!