Commoncraft Blog

Video Licensing: The Business of Permission

Almost anyone can make a video and put it online, but there are relatively few good models for earning a living from online videos. We've been experimenting over a couple of years and believe more than ever that video licensing is a model that has huge potential.

The Current Options

Of course there's the advertising model.  A video is made, it attracts eyeballs, eyeballs are distracted by ads. A tiny percentage of people click the ads and the video host and video owner make a bit of money.  It can certainly work and we've experimented with it, but it can be a long, hard slog.

For video producers, it's certainly possible to make a living by creating custom videos. This market is alive, well and growing. More and more businesses are looking for ways to introduce their product or service with a short online video. Some companies are doing very well with it, but it isn't easily scalable for a small company like ours.

Licensing at Common Craft

At Common Craft, we've been working on a model that's used across the media industry, but hasn't caught on in the online video world - yet. I'm talking about licensing, the business of permission.

Here's an example. Think about a video game that needs awesome songs for an upcoming release. There are bands (or labels) that own awesome songs. The video game company is happy to pay to use the songs in the game. This is a licensing relationship. The owners of the songs give the game company permission to use the songs in exchange for licensing fees. It's a tried and true business relationship.

The same is true for stock photos. You can view them for free (with a watermark), but to use them professionally or commercially, you usually have to pay a licensing fee.

Now, let's apply this model to Common Craft. Like songs on the radio, our videos are available on our website. You can watch them for free and they help us build awareness and brand recognition. We don't earn money from permission to watch the video. Instead, we've tailored our licenses for organizations and individuals who want to use our videos to accomplish their professional goals, like adding a catchy song in a video game.  These organizations are happy to purchase licensed versions because they're high quality and come with explicit permission for use.

Some examples:

1.  A large company needs videos for teaching social media across the organization. Our "Site License" fits the bill.
2.  An individual needs videos for workshops and presentations. We have an "Individual License" for them.
3.  A company needs useful and compelling content to educate visitors to their website.  We have a Commercial "Web License" for these sites.

But it's not always that simple. Thanks to YouTube, which has been helpful in spreading the word about our videos, the assumption for most is that online videos are always free. In offering licenses for our videos, our challenge is education - helping people understand the difference between watching a free video and licensing a higher-quality version for professional use.

It will take time, but the last couple of years have shown us that it's possible to make a living by licensing videos.

Creative Commons

This post would be incomplete without a mention of Creative Commons licenses.  Like any license, Creative Commons is about permission, but these licenses are often used to encourage free use. By using a Creative Commons license, the owner is encouraging others to share, remix, reuse the work as long as a few requirements are met. The requirements are up to the owner and focus on attribution, commercial use, alterations, etc.

While we've decided that Creative Commons is not a good fit for our business, it can be a great resource for video producers who are hoping to get their work in front of more people and be discovered.

Get the Ball Rolling

If you're a video producer, it's time to think about the business of permission! Here are a few things to consider:

• Do you own video content? If so, it can probably be licensed.
• Have you ever been contacted for permission to use your videos? If so, that's a licensing opportunity.
• If you haven't been contacted, identify the potential uses for your videos and look for opportunities.
• Look for ways to create a premium version of your videos for licensing.

From our perspective, the licensing side of online video has huge potential.  It's great to see companies like Vidvend experimenting with a similar model. Services like e-junkie make digital downloads easy to manage. The tools are there - now it'll just take time for more talented producers to experiment and find how licensing can fit into their future.

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2010 Census "Count on Change" - Explained by Say It Visually

Say It Visually!, a member of the Common Craft Explainer Network, recently published this video that explains the impact of the 2010 Census on communities and focuses on encouraging participation among people of color.

This format is a new one for Say It Visually and it's great to see them taking video explanation in new directions. I think the hand-painted style fits really well with the voice-over and music by Keb'-Mo'. It has a heart-felt feel that may have been hard with animation. What do you think?

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A Simple Index Card Says it All

Jessica Hagy at Indexed, says it perfectly:

 

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Where Goldfish Come From

A couple of months ago, I presented a 5 minute presentation at Ignite Seattle called "Where Goldfish Come From" that is based on my experience growing up as a son of a goldfish farmer in North Carolina.  The Ignite series happens around the globe and each presenter has 20 slides that display for 15 seconds each, and auto-advance.  It's a challenge to make it work, but I enjoy it.

Here's the video:

Learn more at BlueRidgeKoi.com

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Zombies in Plain English - Protect Your Brain this Halloween

It's that time again folks.  If you're worried about your brain this Halloween, Zombies in Plain English can help!

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Financial Basics Video Pack (6 videos, 15% off)

Videos in our "Money" category have been a focus for us this year and we're excited to announce a new pack of six video called the "Financial Basics Pack."  Packs are groups of Common Craft videos that can be purchased together for a 15% discount. 

The Financial Basics Pack includes videos on the topics below. You can watch them all on this page.

This video pack is for educators and influencers who need better ways to teach financial responsibility.  The videos can be licensed for use in classrooms, in learning management systems (LMS), on public-facing websites, etc. If you see an opportunity to use these videos for your school, business or website, learn more about licensing here, or contact us

Other packs include:

• Social Media Pack (9 videos)
• Computer Basics Pack (5 videos)

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$8,000 First Time Home Buyer's Tax Credit - Explained By Switch Web Video

Switch Web Video, a member of the Common Craft Explainer Network, recently published a new and timely video about the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.

Here's what Andrew Angus, Principal of Switch, had to say about the project:

Working with Washington REALTORS on this video about the $8000 First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit was a dream. Steve was an excellent client. He knew what he wanted but he also gave our team the room do work their creative magic. The video has been a huge success with custom versions created for over 40 REALTOR Associations in the past couple weeks. Steve has generously offered to allow anyone to download and use the $8000 First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit Video for free.

The Common Craft Explainer Network is a group of video producers that specialize in making custom explanatory videos. The Network currently has six members that represent a number of skills, styles and formats.  If that chunk of text on your home page just isn't doing the trick anymore, contact an Explainer Network member.

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Book Review- Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook

I'd like to start with a disclaimer.  Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo, the authors of Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook, are friends. While I may be biased, knowing them for years also means I know the depth of the their knowledge and experience. And that's the big point of my review of their book - these people know what they're talking about because they live in social media every day and have for years. I've asked myself in the past - What would Darren and Julie do?

Friends with Benefits is very much a handbook. It provides direct, actionable and easy-to-understand advice on getting started with social media marketing. And that's one of the aspects of the book that I think is most valuable.  They don't speak in generalizations, like you should blog "often."  They say business bloggers should to try to blog 3 times a week. They don't say it takes significant time to do social media, they say to plan on at least 25% of your marketing time. This kind of directness takes away some of the anxiety that people feel about getting started and readers will appreciate it.

Along with in-depth introductions to the Twitters and Facebooks of the world, the book comes with a healthy dose of the realities of social media. The online world brims with supposed "social media experts" who will have you believe that anything and everything is possible. Darren and Julie know better because they've been there. The truth is, social media marketing can be amazingly valuable, but comes with real risks. I was happy to see that along with strategies for achieving the very real benefits, the book is clear about the reality of social media: it's difficult, it takes time and the results can vary widely. This book will keep you from looking foolish online.

If you're ready to get off the sidelines and get serious about social media marketing, you must read this book first. Friends with Benefits is tactical, practical and above all, useful.

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Video: Saving for Retirement (401ks) in Plain English

Today we've published a new video "Saving for Retirement in Plain English".

Since we first considered making the series of videos on Money, we've had our eyes on retirement savings. Not just our retirement, but yours. Too many people start saving too late and/or don't know the basics of why retirement accounts like 401ks and IRAs make sense. This video is aimed at helping people see the long term benefits of retirement accounts.

Who is it for?  Along with use in schools, we see this video being a tool for companies who offer retirement programs. This video can be licensed for use by HR (or financial organizations) that have the goal of increasing awareness and adoption of the programs.

This video will join the other Money videos in a forthcoming "Financial Basics Pack" of 6 videos:

The release of this video also marks a break for our recent focus on money and a return to technology. More coming soon!

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R.I.P Amos, Our Faithful Mascot

It's a sad day at Common Craft headquarters.  Our 15-year-old dog Amos passed away today. 

I picked him from a litter of puppies in the back of a pickup truck in Boone, NC in 1994. Since then he was a constant source of love in our lives.  They don't make 'em better than him - we were lucky have him for so long.

Amos, September 4th, 2009

See Having an Old Dog for a bit more about Amos.

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