Turnhere.com - Seriously?!

[Richard Crook]

Turnhere charges the client $1000 for the video that they're paying filmmakers to shoot and edit for $200-$250. Great deal for the Turnhere hustlers!

Instant infomercials: TurnHere makes millions from video ads - Jan. 21, 2009

[Rick L. Allen]

Richard, Great blog post and update on Turnhere. Thanks for posting and reinforcing the point.

My Opinion About Some Internet Video Networks - Crooked Path Films Blog

[Larry Vaughn]

It seems that many if not most of the postings here are by people that can't get work from Turnhere or have completed a handful of jobs, and may be waiting for a call to do more. I see similar comments on Sports Photography and Photojournalism for Professional Photographers and Photography | SportsShooter.com. Hey, don't work for x amount of money. Well, that business never was high paying for most of us, and is worse now.

Many of those same people that made those comments are now working on some college degree in another area. Physics, MBA, medical, etc. No connection to photography work at all.

As has happened with most businesses, the online video market is constantly changing. TurnHere responds to the changing market as necessary. Originally, they did travel videos. That is how I became aware of them.

I've looked at most of the videos here and contacted them a few years ago with an interest in doing the same type of work. TurnHere: Free video guides for travel, restaurants, hotels, local events & music However, this business model didn't pay off and they started providing ads for the yellowpages which offers them to phone customers.

Take a look at what has happened with newspaper photography. Most newspaper photographers are very good at what they do, the years of working and thinking on their feet cause that to happen. Still, the internet, the proliferation of cheap digital cameras with ease of use and minimal technical skill to get an acceptable photo has nearly wiped out the professional photojournalist.

I'm thinking the same thing will happen with videographers who don't develop a highly skilled ability to use all the Final Cut Studio applications and others video products such as motion graphic applications.

TurnHere used to call video producers, but now everything is on their website and you have to constantly look on their site for new jobs. I'm assuming that the only time they call is when they don't have anyone to do the job.

They do have a staff of people and a helpful site that will cultivate you as a professional. Yes, I've had jobs that pay 5 times as much per day. I don't see how anyone can actually do one of these jobs in 2 hours. You have prep time, travel time, time to get releases, editing time, uploading time, invoicing time and so on. I have found some of the claims to be optimistic.

Still, I value the work and have completed dozens of jobs for them. Hopefully there will be more. When considering working as an independent contractor in the IT business, I've done jobs that pay less than what Turnhere pays. Eventually, I got one that lasted 5.5 months, which made up for doing some jobs that paid me $50 to go across town, pick up something, fix something, send something in and finish the online paperwork. Even so, they still want you to work for less money. So I pick and choose. Some, if you consider travel time and expense, actually result in a loss or minimum wage payments and I don't do them.

We all aspire to bigger and better things. Companies like this can be a step along that path. Embrace it or not, it's your decision.

One comment I recently read was that even if you do go into some other line of work, the things that may be holding you back from success may still be there even if you do get that masters degree.

Finding out what they are and how to overcome them will help all of us in our quest for success and happiness.

[Chad Eurie]

I realize this thread is old, but I think it's a great topic -- especially for someone just starting out in the business and who may come across Turnhere or another similar company. Before I say anything else, it really irks me that some people are telling others (in so many words), that their rates are too low, or they shouldn't accept certain amounts.

While I do think helpful critiques are in the spirit of this forum, at the end of the day, everyone has different overhead, etc...and what I may need to charge to make a profit may be drastically different than what the next person may need to. There is no universal "right" or "wrong". Just "right" for the individual in question. Furthermore, as most of us know, market rates vary from market to market.

I did some work for Turnhere back in 2008. While I don't do work for them anymore (my business has grown), there were some great advantages to working for them:

1- They take care of the marketing. You don't have to market to clients, deal with contracts, etc...nothing. Shoot, edit and turn over your project.
2- They paid on time. Never had to chase them down.
3- It can be a fantastic learning experience for someone just starting off. You really have to know at least the basics of shooting, editing, lighting and sound.
4- Great flexibility and a great opportunity to make extra money if you're in a slow period.

Disadvantages

1- If they don't approve your video, the extra hours you spend re-editing can make the hourly rate even lower.

While I no longer shoot for them, it was a great experience. If other people don't think their rates are reasonable, I respect that. But I had a great experience shooting for them.

[Jeff Pulera]

I have to agree with Chad - a few years ago, I had been laid off from my day job and my wife had lost her job, and Turn Here was providing some pretty steady work to me at the time and I was very thankful to have that income.

It was a good experience and Turn Here was great to work with, paid on time, no headaches. With my current full-time day job, I'm unable to accept any shoots during the work week, so on hiatus with TH.

Jeff Pulera