Mr. Trainor (Photo: Webpronews.com)

Vimeo, the New York-based video platform known for being the buttoned-up, besuited step-brother to the behemoth YouTube, announced two new features today aimed at empowering video creators to earn money for their work. The first is a virtual Tip Jar, which can be implemented across all Vimeo Plus and Vimeo Pro accounts beginning today, that allows viewers to reward creators for their hard work with cash donations via credit card or PayPal. Vimeo will retain a 15 percent cut of all tips.

"This is a feature that the product team has had in their minds for quite a while," Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor told us recently on a visit to the company's headquarters, nestled in a spacious office stocked with lots of candy in the IAC building.

We pointed out that the success of platforms like Kickstarter helped establish the concept of crowdfunding as an alternative way to show support for someone's work. Kickstarter is different, Mr. Trainor said, as it's about funding work that hasn't been created yet, whereas Tip Jar serves as a way to reward people for work they've already created.

"What I think Kickstarter really points out is the excitement on the part of consumers to connect with people who are directly creating things," he explained. "I think that that core connection absolutely remains with this approach we're taking with Tip Jar."

The second feature Vimeo announced today--which will roll out for Vimeo Pro subscribers beginning in the first quarter of 2013--is a pay-to-view model that allows creators to erect a flexible paywall around chosen content. Creators could, for instance, offer access to videos early if users pay $1 to get past the paywall. They could also create content that's exclusive to paid viewers.

The new tip jar button can be seen in green. (Photo: Vimeo)

"The paywall is not something that's been perfected, but we know from the success of VOD, Pay Per View and cable that it's an idea that people have shown that they have a desire for that content," Mr. Trainor said. "We're going to try to make it as easy as possible for creators who might not have necessarily access to more familiar platforms like Netflix. We want to make it easier to use and much more flexible."

Mr. Trainor gave the example of a director like Alan Ball, he of Six Feed Under fame. If Mr. Ball wanted to create a video or series that didn't fit with HBO's vision, he could instead host it on Vimeo, and make money by enabling the pay-to-view option.

Now a top 10 U.S. video property, Vimeo has established itself not as a competitor to YouTube, but instead as a much-needed alternative for professional and niche directors and filmmakers.

"YouTube is incredibly mass, and Vimeo has always set out to do something different," Mr. Trainor. "As the space has grown, Vimeo has been rewarded with being able to be this other place that is focused on quality, creativity and control. Vimeo is freestanding from a traffic perspective--it's not attached to Yahoo or a big portal."

"In a way, Vimeo is kind of like the Mac to YouTube's PC," he added.

Mr. Trainor (allthingsd.com)

Video sharing service Vimeo, also known as the rich man's YouTube, announced an executive-level shakeup this morning via a press release from parent company InterActiveCorp. Kerry Trainor, the senior vice president of AOL Huffington Post Media Group, is joining Vimeo as CEO. He'll be taking over for Dae Mellencamp, who has been CEO and president of Vimeo since 2009. Ms. Mellencamp will keep her title as president, but hand over the CEO reins to Mr. Trainor.

In the press release, IAC's CEO Greg Blatt demonstrated a keen knowledge of business jargon, somehow managing to say everything and nothing all at once. "By uniting Kerry's understanding of monetization and scale content businesses with Dae's keen product and community sensibility, I'm confident Vimeo's growth will accelerate," said Mr. Blatt. "We really have high ambitions for this business."

Last month, PandoDaily reported that IAC was shopping around a 25 percent stake in Vimeo, just after launching a redesign a month prior. IAC chairman Barry Diller told AllThingsD that the story was "exaggerated," but there's no doubt that Vimeo is attempting to take its business in a new direction.

We can only hope that Mr. Trainor won't take Vimeo the way of YouTube, with all those ads crapping up the viewing experience. Some things, like Vimeo's highbrow allegiance to quality video, just need to remain sacred.