Name of your website?Total Recut
Your name?
ragaman7
Your Location (city, etc)
Dublin
Please give us a short summary of your site?
Online resources and social network for fans and creators of video recuts, featuring galleries of the latest recuts, remix contests, video tutorials and copyright-free video downloads.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I saw that video remixes were an up and coming new art form and that there were very few sites dedicated to them, so being a remix artist myself, I wanted to have somewhere to showcase and share my work and to meet other remix artists and see their work. Also, I wanted to try to help people who want to learn how to remix by providing tutorials and information on how to do it.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
June 2007 the site was launched in a very early unfinished guise. It was the same idea but did not have a lot of the functionality it has today.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
It was originally called mash-up.co.uk but I thought it needed something with more of a memorable ring to it. Also, the term 'mash-up' is not widely understood on this side of the Atlantic compared to America, whereas 'recut' is quite established. So I came up with 'Total Recut', which also has some throwbacks and connotations to the movie world.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Total Recut offers remix education, social networking, downloads of raw materials i.e. copyright free videos, and regular remix contests for its members.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
To develop and grow the remix community and produce loads of video recuts! Eventually, it might be possible to join forces with a larger web based company like Google, for example.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Total Recut is in its early stages as of yet and we are still focussing on building the community. Eventually we will charge a small fee for members to take exams in the 'Remix University' which will allow them to simultaneously improve their skills and enhance their reputations. A lot of time and money has been spent developing the site and only time will tell if it will be a success.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would add video upload capabilities and develop a sophisticated online editing suite for members to edit video content on the fly without leaving the site. Also, I would host a large X-Factor style remix contest with full mainstream media coverage - TV, Radio, Billboard Ads etc.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes. We have considered the possibility of the site becoming popular quickly and we have a contingency plan in place to deal with it.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
So far, we have not run into any major headaches with regard to unexpected costs.
What has been your biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge has been developing the site to include all of the functionality that we imagined at the concept stage. We have achieved that, however the site is in constant development, respponding to feedback from all types of sources.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Word of mouth so far. Mentioning it on Blogs and people sending the link to each other.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
Every day presents a new challenge to be overcome, but that keeps it interesting.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
The site is a passion of mine, so I will continue to run it regardless of traffic, income or popularity. It has been running for 3 months now and interest has been increasing gradually.
What would you like to achieve with the site?
I would hope that people who are interested in video recuts and remix culture in general would go to Totalrecut.com and sign up as members and contribute to the site in their own way, whether that is to add a video, take an exam, enter a contest, comment on someone else's work or meet like-minded people - Total Recut provides all of this and more! Basically I would hope that people have fun on the site and get a laugh out of the videos!
What is your website address?
Total Recut
