29 Jun Sell Video Views on your Website or Blog
People often come to us with the question, “Can you make a website and host pay-to-view video content?” The idea usually is, make a website, get subscribers and get paid – seems easy, doesn’t it? Your destiny of a top Vlogger or Video Content Producer is around the corner.
Well, our question for them is, why develop a whole new website to host these videos when there are already streaming services and platforms that do just that.
Video streaming is an art in itself and these platforms can do a much better job than they (or we) could ever do!
Places like YouTube, Vimeo & Dailymotion have the ability to scale and size the bandwidth based on the user. Basically, the user is able to stream HD if they have fibre internet connection, or stream 256kb over mobile if they are in a coffee shop using 3G. This is something that video streaming platforms have mastered and not something you can easily achieve on a website with a “plugin”.
First, you need to decide how you are going to sell your content:
- Sell a subscription to view your videos on a platform or
- Sell a video that gives them a single view and charge a smaller amount.
There are many ways to skin a cat.
Here are some free ways to host video content:
Create a Youtube Channel.
Create a Youtube channel and post your videos on the channel. On your website, link this video to Youtube. On Youtube set your video as private/unlisted. By doing this, only the people that subscribed to your website have the link to your video.
Create a private Facebook page.
On Facebook, you can create a Facebook page/group. Members pay a monthly subscription and are invited to this page. They are the only people who can view your content. They now have access to your video content and you will have a great forum for talking and discussing.
Host video content on Google Drive, DropBox or OneDrive.
Uploading content to these platforms and inviting members to view. At some stage, you will go over the quota, but you’ll have complete control over the video content for easy updating files.
Here are some paid ways to host video content:
Video Hosting Services like:
Some paid services collect the money for you (ie you don’t need your own eCommerce).
Others just host the files, and it’s up to you to allow access to members.
Our recommendation.
Start with a free service, and when you know your content has more demand than your platform can handle, choose a paid hosting partner for Video Hosting.