FAQ for MediaMobz

What is MediaMobz?

We’re a marketplace for creative services, particularly video production.

Why would I want to use MediaMobz?

If you’re a buyer, MediaMobz is the easiest, most affordable way to get a high-quality video made in a specific geographical area. The video can be an ad, promotion, documentary, digital story — almost anything.

If you’re a producer, it’s a way to earn money — no matter where you’re located. MediaMobz provides a convenient way to find work and make a living with your skills without the expense and hassle of marketing yourself.

What do you offer that I can’t do on my own?

MediaMobz provides a trusted, secure environment for connecting buyers and producers. The site lets you find talented producers or quality requests, track a project’s progress, keep a record of all communications on the site and use a private workspace to manage your project.

Is MediaMobz only for video?

No. While video projects are the main focus of MediaMobz, you can post a request for any kind of work: music and sound productions, still photography or other photo shoots, marketing materials and brochureware, annual reports, artwork, scripts — basically, any creative service.

Who are buyers and producers?

A buyer is anyone who posts a project for people to bid on.

A producer is anyone — professional, semi-pro or amateur — who can create a good-looking video or other media. Don’t confuse the term with traditional media’s narrow definition of a producer. Here it means anyone who can create a polished media work.

Can I be both a buyer and producer?

Yes. Your one-time registration lets you act as a buyer or producer. You use the same log-in and password for either role — just choose which role you want when you sign in for your session. You can see which role you’re using at the very top of every page next to the Sign Out button.

We designed the site to make it easier to navigate depending on whether you’ll be posting projects or producing them. You can post requests only as a buyer. You can bid on projects only as a producer.

Items on the site have disappeared!

Don’t be confused if items on the site seem to disappear or your profile looks different when you sign in as a buyer or producer. The site is designed to provide different user experiences depending on the role you assume.

For example, if you posted projects as a buyer, you’ll see them on your dashboard when you’re signed in as a buyer but not when you’ve signed in as a producer. However, your Favorites remain consistent, regardless of how you’re signed in.

How do I search on MediaMobz?

You can search on the site in two ways: search for producers or search for requests.

Buyers: Click the Search Producers button at the top of any page to find producers to bid on your project. You can search by keywords such as a specialty (sound engineer) or search within 5, 25, 50 or 100 miles of a specific location.

You can also use the "Sort by" dropdown menu to sort by producers’ rank, projects completed, lowest rate (or price) and highest rate.

Buyers are encouraged to add a city and zip code of their project when they submit a request to help producers find nearby projects.

Producers: Click the Search Requests button in the top navigation to bring up a list of Requests. The newest ones appear at the top. Enter a keyword or phrase in the search box to search for types of requests. You can select the "Sort by" menu to sort by newest, expiring first, lowest budget or highest budget.

You can search open requests or all requests (open and closed). To search for other producers, click the "Search Producers" tab.

What is a video request?

A video request is simply a contract job posted by a buyer. When a buyer finds a qualified producer, the buyer can award the bid to the producer. Here is a list of all video requests on the site.

What is a Project Details page?

When a buyer submits a request, this is the page that results. Feel free to use the terms Project Details page and request page interchangeably.

Does the lowest bidder win?

No. The buyer can choose whoever the buyer thinks is best suited for the project based on all qualifications, including experience, bid price, ratings and reviews.

What is public vs. invitation-only bidding?

A buyer may post two types of requests: public, which allows all producers to place a bid (and everyone to see those bids). Or invitation-only, which requires the buyer to invite individual producers to bid on the project.

With invitation-only bidding, anyone can see the request, but only producers invited by the buyer are allowed to bid, and only the buyer can see the bids. A producer can post a public message on the project’s message board if he or she would like to be invited to bid.

What is open vs. closed bidding?

Open or closed bidding refers to how bids may be viewed on the site. If a buyer chooses to submit a request with open bidding, everyone can see all bids submitted by producers. If a buyer selects closed bidding, only the buyer can see the bids submitted.

Is there a minimum or maximum bidding threshold for projects?

No. A buyer can enter any amount he or she wants to pay for a project, and a producer can bid any amount. For example, a producer may offer pro bono video production work for a non-profit or worthy cause.

Must the producer bid within the target price set by the buyer?

No. A producer can enter any price for a bid. If a buyer targets $500 to $1,000 for a request, a producer may decide to bid $450. Please refrain from frivolous bidding, however, or it may affect your rank.

Do buyers and producers enter into binding agreements on MediaMobz?

When a buyer offers to work with a producer and the producer accepts the offer, they have in essence entered into a contract. If necessary, there are provisions for withdrawing from an agreement (see What happens if a project is deleted or canceled?).

How to set a Starting Budget for a job request?

MEDIAmobz has a minimum budget requirement of $200. To get more producer bids and high quality video product, we highly encourage you to post a starting budget that is within range of the chart below. Projects often get producer bids that are below and above the starting budget. You, as the buyer, have full control to select the best bid and producer.

Recommended Budget Ranges*

Category	Description	Estimated Budget Range
Ad	Small/Mid Business 30 Sec Ad	$850-$5,000
Customer Vendor Communication	3 min Product tutorial	$1,000-$5,000
Documentary	Documentary style short film (10 min.)	$10,000-$50,000
Entertainment	Music Video (3 min.)	$1,000-$10,000
Live Event	Live event recording (8 hour shoot)	$500-$6,000
Personal	Family or personal storytelling (5-10 min.)	$500-$5,000
Screencast	Screencapture of computer	$500-$5,000
Training	Educational training video	$2,000-$15,000
Weddings	Wedding documentary (8 hour shoot)	$500-$10,000

* These ranges are meant to be starting points. Final bids may be higher or lower than these budget ranges.

How long should I set my Auction Duration for?

You can award a job before the auction ends. If you need a job started quickly, choose 'Open for 7 days.' If you have more time and would like more bids, pick a longer duration.

What and where is my profile page?

This is the public page on MediaMobz for all buyers and producers, containing your name, picture, a short bio, past projects and other details. You can share your profile page’s url with others. You can find it in any of these ways:

Log in. Then click the link showing your display name right next to the Log Out button at the very top of each page.
Just type in your display name (which you can edit on your profile page) in this url: marketplace.MediaMobz.com/yourdisplayname.
Go to your dashboard and select the View/Edit profile link under the Account Information heading.

What is my dashboard?

Your dashboard is your private set of controls. You can easily find it through the top navigation. It includes:

a list of your requests (if you’re a buyer) or bids made (if you’re a producer)
your alerts and messages
a list of your current and completed projects and their status
your account information, including access to your profile page
your Watch List of buyers’ projects you’re tracking
your Favorites, a list of producers and buyers you’re keeping track of.

What is a Watch List?

Located on your dashboard, your Watch List contains all the projects (video requests) you’ve chosen to track.

You can add projects only if you’re signed in. To add a project to your Watch List, do one of the following:

Click the blue Track Project button on the home page.
Click the blue Track Project button on a request listings page.
Click the blue Track this Project button on the project’s individual Project Details page.

You can delete projects from your Watch List at any time.

What are Favorites?

Favorites are a list of the producers and buyers you’ve bookmarked. Access your list of Favorites on your dashboard.

What is the Project Workspace?

Once a project is awarded and accepted, this is the private workspace that only the buyer and producer can access. On the Project Workspace you can manage your project, see and exchange files, see a work log, see the project’s status and download SpinXpress for sharing large files.

What are project alerts?

Buyers and producers receive alerts on their dashboard whenever there is a change in a project’s status. For example, when a buyer invites a producer to bid on a project, the producer will receive an alert. All project alerts on the site are accompanied by an email notification as well.

How are payments handled?

Buyers and producers determine their own payment terms. At the time the request is offered by the buyer and accepted by the producer, the parties must agree on the scope of the project and the price for completing the work.

When accepting a project, the producer pays MediaMobz a nonrefundable fee of $40. The fee cannot be returned if the project is canceled later.

What happens if a project is deleted or canceled?

A buyer may choose to delete a project at any time before it is awarded.

After a request is awarded and accepted, if either the buyer or producer wants to cancel the project, both parties must agree by clicking the “Cancel Project” button on the Project Workspace page. If no work has been done and no money has changed hands, there should be no issue. If work has been performed or a payment made, both parties must agree to terms on their own (e.g., partial payment for services rendered) and then cancel the project. If no agreement can be reached, the parties may proceed to mediation.

How does mediation work?

If a dispute arises, the parties agree first to attempt in good faith to settle the dispute by mediation through JAMS, the nation’s largest private provider of alternative dispute resolution services. If the dispute cannot be settled in this manner, the parties agree to then submit their dispute to JAMS for arbitration. See MediaMobz’s Mediation, arbitration and dispute resolution policy for more.

Can I upload photos, videos and other materials?

You can share materials in four ways through MediaMobz:

When posting a video request, the buyer may upload photos and documents under 3MB in size.
After a bid has been awarded and accepted, either buyer or producer may upload photos and documents under 3MB in size on the Project Workspace.
The parties may download SpinXpress from the Project Workspace to share videos or photos — with no size limit — through a private, secure p2p network.
Buyers and producers may point to photos or documents related to past projects on their profile pages.

You can’t upload a video to MediaMobz, but you can point to videos on any other hosting site such as Ourmedia.org.

How do private and public messages work on the site?

On MediaMobz we try to prevent buyers from being overwhelmed with solicitations. So here is how it works:

Buyers can send a message to any producer by clicking through to his or her Producer Profile page and clicking the blue button marked “Send Message.” The producer can then respond in the same thread. This is a private communication.

Producers can post public messages to any Project Details page to inquire about a project. (Click through on the request listings to see each Project Details page.) Click the orange “Messages” button to post a public message.

Producers can send private messages to other producers by going to the member’s profile page and clicking the blue button marked “Send Message.”

Do I have to live in the United States to participate?

No. MediaMobz is open to anyone. However, some projects require a local presence to shoot video, conduct interviews, etc.

Is there a general public forum on MediaMobz?

No, not yet. Let us know if you’d like to see one.

Do you offer RSS feeds so I can follow favorite producers, buyers or projects?

Not yet. We’re working on it. Let us know what you’d like to see.

What are your site’s community standards?

MediaMobz is a community of buyers and media producers and we want every member to feel comfortable and welcome here. Please treat others with courtesy and respect.

Language: Please don’t post material that is obscene, illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, untrue or invasive of someone else’s privacy.

Screen names: Choose a screen name and blog name that is in good taste.

Advertising and solicitations: MediaMobz is not the place for promotional material unrelated to video or other media production. That means no spam, no Viagra, etc. Take your nonsense elsewhere.

Please contact us to report violations of community standards.

FAQ for MediaMobz

Starting out

Overview of how MediaMobz works

All about bidding

Managing your account & controls

Managing your projects

Miscellaneous

Join Our Producer Network