Best Practices

Vimeo On Demand is designed primarily to help creators sell films and episodic series. If you make those, Vimeo On Demand may be for you. Learn more about VOD →

You’ll need:

  1. 1. A Vimeo PRO account

    Vimeo On Demand is exclusively for Vimeo PRO members. Learn more about Vimeo PRO.

  2. 2. A verified PayPal account

    Hook up your existing account or get a new one so you can get paid in the shade.

  3. 3. A work that you’re proud of and want to sell

    Not just any old video is right for Vimeo On Demand. It should be special!

  4. 4. A poster to represent your work

    Make it pretty — it’ll show up in the Vimeo On Demand directory.

  5. 5. A trailer for your work

    This is the best way to show people what your work is about. Learn how to make a great trailer.

  6. 6. Entrepreneurial spirit

    You’ve got to want it! Are you ready to put your work out into the world and do what it takes to get people to watch it?

  • How much should I charge for my work?

    We encourage you to keep your pricing as affordable as possible. If you’re selling your work through other services, sell it for the same price or less. You might also consider a special price exclusive to Vimeo On Demand.

  • Which viewing options should I select?

    For viewing options, you decide what viewing period makes sense for your work. However, we strongly suggest making your work available worldwide, so you’ll have the largest potential audience.

  • Should I allow people to rent or buy my work? Or both?

    That’s up to you. When someone buys your work, they can watch it whenever they want, either as a DRM-free download that plays on any device, or on Vimeo. When they rent your work, they have a limited time in which to view it. Because viewers have different preferences, we suggest giving them as many purchasing options as possible.

  • How do I let people know about my work?

    After your On Demand page has been created, it’s time to put on your self-promotional shoes. Let people know through all your favorite social networks, and send out an email blast to your mailing list, or at least to your family and friends.

  • What if I don’t want my work to appear on Vimeo?

    Including your work on Vimeo is a great way to make your work discoverable to an audience of passionate viewers. However, if you don’t want your work on Vimeo, go to the Advanced tab and click the checkbox for “I want to sell my work only on my own domain.”

What else should I know?

  • Make sure you have all the rights

    As with all videos on Vimeo, make sure you have the rights to the music in your work. Also, since you’re selling your work, you need to get personnel releases signed for anyone who appears in your work.

  • Choose a compelling thumbnail

    Along with your poster and trailer, your thumbnail is an important representation of your work. You can pick any frame from your work, or upload a custom thumbnail. Learn more about thumbnails.

  • Upload a powerful poster

    Use simple colors and images that represent your work and draw the eye. Please note that the aspect ratio should be 27 x 40 px (width by height) and the largest size we use on VOD is 275 x 407 px.

  • Add bonus features

    Bonus features give people more incentive to buy your work, and make perfect promotional materials.

  • Keep it affordable

    It’s super important to give your work a price that you are willing to pay. The lower your price, the more people will be willing to buy it.

  • Start early

    Create your Vimeo On Demand page well before any release dates. Don’t create the page the same day of a release so you have time to tweak the appearance and settings to your liking.

  • Customize your page

    We give you all the tools to help you personalize your page: You can change the theme, colors, and add modules to create the best experience for viewers.

  • Create a great, informative trailer

    Your trailer can be a full scene from your work, or a montage you edit together. Pro tip: Trailers should never be longer than two minutes, so keep it snappy! Get trailer tips.

  • Tag your film

    To ensure that your work appears in our search results, tag it! For example, if your work is “The Undead Upset the Daytona 500,” you’ll probably want tags such as “zombies,” “racecars,” “Florida,” etc.

  • Prepare your video file properly

    Before you upload your work, make sure you’ve got the video file ready.
    Learn how in our Compression Guidelines.

That’s it!