I'll also recommend Vimeo as a hosting service. Been using it for a year and it all looks quite good.

That said, if you can host your videos yourself you will likely get a little better quality images because you can transcode directly from the source footage to the ultimate delivery format. Vimeo and other similar services effectively require that you transcode to a lossy, intermediate format for uploading, then they transcode to the delivery format. Since I'm old enough to have lived a long time in the analog world where generational losses were to be avoided at all costs, the "generational loss" of an intermediate deliverable goes against my grain. But I do it.

Tripp, I absolutely agree with you. This point, and the loss of the copyright of your video material, not to mention the unprofessional look (in my opinion) for anything commercial means encoding and setting up your own website is really the only way to go for anyone who cares about getting the best quality. Costs are very modest, but it does require more "techie know-how" perhaps than some have or wish to spend hours obtaining. YouTube's (et al) success was partly because they made video uploading and sharing so simple.

That said, Vimeo, Exposure Room and YouTube have their place in getting to a wider audience in a way that you could not with your own domain.

Good point about the copyright - I would never host anything other than throw-away test videos on Vimeo, YouTube, et al. Also, nothing says "I'm cheap" like having freebie video hosting on your site.

Say what you wish.. but the people making wayy more money than me, booking high dollar brides every other weekend are using vimeo.

Whoa Nellybell! I strongly disagree. It becomes a value proposition whether one chooses to build one's own Web site for video versus using something that's already there. For us little guys time is very valuable. I cannot afford spending time building Web sites when I could be out shooting and making money.

If you actually have "people" then you can delegate. If you don't, you work late into the night.

Ok, so when I read my post a few hours later, it sounded way worse than I wanted it to, so I apologize.

Most of my work is corporate, so using free shortcuts on my site wouldn't look so good. Regardless, it is a clear violation of Vimeo's terms of service to use it for commercial use. On top of it, you're basically giving away your rights to Vimeo when you post it.

There's my problem(s) with Vimeo. It is a very good service but not usable by anyone doing corporate work . . . which is why, being one of the little guys, I work into the early hours maintaining my own website. Kinda comes with the territory for building a successful business.

At the risk of upsetting people, not having your own website and relying solely on free hosted video does look cheap in my opinion - but I will re-state that I am working exclusively in the corporate world so my clients possibly have a different set of values when it comes to judging a potential supplier.

Finally, Chris's observation about giving your rights away when you post to free hosting sites like Vimeo or YouTube is the real showstopper - I do not own the copyright on most of my work . . . my client does.

I'll second that