Kris Simmons
Forum Replies Created
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Hi David,
Congratulations for starting your own video business! I know the circumstances for you starting it weren’t exactly ideal but congratulations none the less.
The first thing you need to do is figure out how to secure enough financing to keep your head above water for a while until your business builds some momentum. Do you have a house that you can take out a 2nd mortgage on? Or, is your credit in good enough shape that you could go to a bank and take out a non-secured loan for a period of time?
I’d suggest looking at what your expenses are for a 6 month period of time and get a loan that will cover those expenses. A year’s worth of expenses would be even better but I’d focus on at least 6 months. Having this money in the bank will relieve a lot of the pressure you are feeling right now and will enable you to focus more on getting new business and taking care of the business you already have.
Oh yeah, and try to negotiate with your bank so that all you have to pay for the 6 month period is interest only. Then, after the 6th month, the larger payments will kick in.
As for your current customers, are you sure that there isn’t any other work you can do for them? You said you are a post/motion GFX guy….which means you are probably well versed in static graphic design among other things. Whatever your talents are, make sure everyone you have as a client now knows you can help them with more than video. The customers you have that know you from the previous job will most likely want to help you succeed so give them the ammunition they need to send you additional work.
Finally, no matter how bad you hate marketing, you have to do it effectively and frequently. The problem though is that you most likely won’t see any results for several months down stream….which doesn’t help you cash flow crunch today.
You’ve sent info to agencies….keep doing that. You never know when your demo will be on the top of the stack when they need your help.
I’d also suggest sending your reel to all the other production companies in your area. Position yourself as someone that would like to help them with their overflow and that you are willing to work with their budgets. You don’t have to accept a budget that’s ridiculous but you want these producers to believe that they can call you to negotiate a rate.
Finally, pull up the Texas Film Commission or the Austin Film Commission website and call every production professional listed. Take them to coffee, give them a demo, get to know them and THEY WILL START REFERRING YOU BUSINESS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY!
Your economic power is directly influenced by how many people you have within your network. Start meeting other video pros today and your opportunities will grow substantially.
Good luck! I know this is a very exciting yet scary time for you. Stay focused on getting new business and doing an amazing job for your current customers. And, start working today to secure a loan that will give you a little breathing room.
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
Based on the evidence, I’m sure your “friend” is less than ethical but think about the situation if he were JUST a client and not a friend.
Would you really question how much a producer is making on top of what they are paying you? Is it any of your business to do so? I think all the producer is entitled to tell you on the front end is exactly what they want to pay for exactly what they need you to produce. It’s then up to you to decide if you want to do the work for that amount or not. If you realize at a later date that you aren’t happy with what you are being paid, it’s up to you to renegotiate your terms or to simply quit working for the producer….as long as you have fulfilled the terms in your agreement.
In this case, you asked for a raise based on increased responsibilities and he told you that the client’s budget wouldn’t enable him to pay you more money. At that point in time, it was up to you to either do the extra work for the same rate or to quit working for him altogether. It was your choice and you chose to continue working.
Then the call came from his client that ultimately revealed how much money he was making on the job. You then quickly compared his money to your money and didn’t like the result. In reality, his client is calling you because they want to pay less for the work. So, your client (in a way) was telling you the truth when he said that he couldn’t pay you more because his client wouldn’t pay him more.
But this pissed you off because you felt betrayed that he was making more money than you when you were doing all the work. But, WAS HE REALLY MAKING MORE MONEY? Remember that a producer spends a lot more money than they make because they have to hire out just about every skill set required to complete a project. Plus, you have no idea what is required financially to run his business.
Now let’s talk about his client for a minute. If you have known your friend for a long time and have never had a reason to question his ethics or values, then why would you let one call from a client you’ve never met allow you to question all that you know about this friend?
If I were in your shoes, I’d sit down with your friend and discuss everything with him. I’d tell him that based on all the information you have, you believe he has taken advantage of you by asking you to do more work for less pay. Then, see how he handles the situation. If you don’t like his reaction, then you can decide on your own if you want to pursue the client’s business. If he handles it the way a good friend should, then I might think twice about going around his back directly to the client. So what if the client called you instead of you calling them. Your job as a friend is to protect your friend. Your job as an editor is to protect the producer or agency that brings the work to you.
It’s a dicey situation but as a producer, I’d never hire an editor that even remotely indicated that they’d take my business if the client were to call them directly. Then again, I pay my freelancers industry standard rates so maybe that’s why I don’t run into these problems.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. If it turns out that your friend will remain a friend but will lose the client’s business anyway, you may want to figure out how to get the business for yourself but hire the friend to do some work for you. This way, money still flows his direction but you are in control of the lion’s share of the budget.
Just my thoughts.
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
An experienced production company would charge in the ball park of $1400 per day for a two-person shoot. That would include a director/videographer, sound technician/production assistant, camera/tripod, one light kit, two wireless microphones and a shotgun mic with boom pole.
As far as editing is concerned, you would charge anywhere from $100 to $300 per hour based on your experience and market.
I have found that local car dealerships typically don’t like to spend a lot of money on their commercials so it might be a challenge to get more than $1000 for all your efforts. If this is the case, try to get them to commit to multiple ads over the course of a year so that you can give them the “volume discount.”
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
I’d target the top 10 honchos, develop a presentation and schedule meetings to demonstrate/explain to them why their company should fund this project. For each “NO” you hear, you’ll learn more about how to adjust your presentation for the next prospect. Can’t say that you’ll eventually hear a “yes” but I can say that you’ll get closer and closer with each experience to making this happen.
Also, get the industry associations excited about the project. They can educate you on how to get the funding or can help you with fundraising efforts. These people already know how to raise funds and have the trust of their members.
Regarding how you will get paid, I would just package it as a budget that your company needs to produce the project. No need to break it down into individual responsibilities.
Also, in your presentation, make sure you explain how the project will be distributed and how the prospective sponsor’s brand will be represented every step of the way.
It’s hard to brain dump everything in one session but hopefully this will help a little. Good luck!
Kris
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
Most brides have already hired their wedding videographers for the summer. However, keep marketing because there will be a handful of fall and winter weddings that you’ll want to be considered for. The important thing to remember is to continue marketing your services no matter what time of year it is. When I was in the wedding video business a few years ago, I found that I booked most of my summer weddings for the next year in the fall and winter. You never know when a bride to be will want to go ahead and secure a videographer so it’s your job to make sure you are top of mind when they are ready to make that decision.
Also, a way to get through the slow times is to find other video services you can provide using your current skill set. Good luck!
Kris
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
Hi Steve,
I can identify with your frustration as it has taken about 7 years to finally figure out what actually works for us.
It sounds like you have tried all that works for me. But, I wonder if you have tried them long enough to see if they will work. I have found that you need to have a marketing strategy in place for at least a year before you will start to achieve real results. It’s a tough year but if you hang in there, it will yield fruit.
I’m sure you are familiar with the sales pipeline. Marketing is what helps you fill the pipeline with leads. Once the pipeline is overflowing with leads, it will bust resulting in you getting a steady stream of business. However, once it busts and you get loaded down with projects, you MUST keep marketing so you can continue to cram more leads into the pipeline.
Another analogy is to think about putting an empty bucket under a slow dripping leak. It will take a long time for the bucket to fill up, but when it does, it will slowly start to overflow. If the leak stops, the bucket will stop overflowing. More drips (leads) equals more overflow (sales).
So, in all the tactics you mentioned trying in your post, how many of them were 100% focused on putting more leads in the pipeline? Here’s what works for us: (There are 4 full-time staffers in my studio)
1. Attend chamber meetings with the sole purpose of meeting new contacts and adding prospects to our pipeline. All new contacts and prospects are added to our newsletter that goes out once per month. Warm and/or hot prospects are followed up with soon after an event with the purpose of setting up a personal meeting. After the meeting, if they want a proposal for a project, we write it. If they don’t have an exact need at this time, they’ll get our newsletter every month so when they do decide to do the project, they will ask us to submit a bid.
2. I am a member of the Chamber Board of Directors and the Chattanooga Downtown Rotary Club. I request/attend meetings with members of both organizations every week so I can get to know them better as well as help them get to know me and my business better. When a video project needs pops up in any of these member companies, I usually get a call to submit a proposal.
3. I created a webcast network (www.localwebcastnetwork.com) with the purpose of videotaping, editing and posting video coverage of important local community and business events. We cover grand openings, open houses, important announcements, non-profit fundraisers, you name it. Doing this puts us in front of decision makers at every event and positions us as the only video production company in my area that is totally involved in supporting our community. Chattanooga, TN is home to hundreds of non-profit organizations so we are a very philanthropic town. The movers and shakers like to support vendors that also believe in supporting the community. We sign several contracts every month as a direct result of what we do with this network on a daily/weekly basis.
4. We “sponsor” huge events in our area. We don’t write any checks for the sponsorships. We simply offer to videotape/edit a short video of the event that will go on our webcast network. They can also use our video on their websites if they want. It’s a great service for the non-profits and we get top level sponsorship exposure. We’ve sponsored about 7 events so far this year and have closed several deals with contacts made at these events.
That’s it! This marketing mix puts multiple leads in the pipeline each week and I have more project opportunities than I have time to write proposals for. But, to continue on this path, I have to keep putting leads into the pipeline….which means that marketing can never take a back seat to anything. I HAVE to do it in order to remain successful in this business.
Hope that offers a little about how I am doing it. Let me know if you have any questions.
Kris
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
For $5 to $10 a spot, budget a few hundred dollars and give it a shot. The catch 22 of marketing is that you have to promote your business to stay in business but the only way to know for sure what marketing strategies work is trial and error. What works for one video business in a particular market may not work for other businesses in other markets. The key is to BUDGET! If you can afford to lose a few hundred to try something, go for it. But don’t risk a few hundred dollars if you don’t have it in your budget.
I have the best success mixing civic marketing efforts, newsletters, networking meetings and being on the board of our chamber of commerce and rotary club. I have spent thousands of dollars on advertising over the years without much success but then again, I’ve heard other video business owners report excellent results with radio and direct mail campaigns.
If I could run a spot in my market for $5 to $10 per spot, I’d give it a whirl just to see what happened. The key though, as with any video we produce, is to tell a good story that makes your target market want to take action after the spot runs. Think about a marketing trail you would like your prospects to follow from the point they watch your commercial to when they sign a contract.
For instance, run a commercial that positions you as an expert in wedding videos (or whatever you want to promote). In the spot, tell them that they can download a free report on how to choose a wedding videographer on your website. You can track the success of your spot by how many downloads take place. The spot should also include your phone number and physical location if that is important.
In order for people to download your report, make them give you their email address and name. This way you’ll have their information captured. Send them the report and follow up once per month or whenever with a newsletter of some sort.
Seems like a lot of work but it’s necessary to have a total marketing system in place in order to get real benefits. One single tactic will rarely ever give you the results your looking for. You have to find a mix of tactics to use consistently on a regular basis.
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
Music2Hues had a decent selection several years ago. They may be worth looking into. A google search should point you in the right direction.
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
Seems like to me you have two divisions within your company. One is the video/creative side and the other is the talent agency side.
Divide the line down the middle and figure out how to promote each service independent of the other. Then, use the opposite service as a competitive advantage.
For instance, when selling video/creative services, use the fact that you also deal with talent management as a differentiator between you and the competitors in your area. You are a media production company that also handles/manages talent.
When selling the talent management service, use the fact that you also handle full-service video/creative services as a differentiator between you and other talent managers. Offer a free demo reel created just for them that they can continue to use after the contract has expired or simply use your creative abilities to boost efforts in promoting the talent you represent.
You may run into trouble when dealing with agencies based on your model. You are dangerously close to being a full-blown agency…at least in the eyes of other agencies. You’ll have to be careful how you position yourselves in the market because if agencies view you as a threat instead of an asset, you could be in for a rough ride.
Your model sounds exciting. Keep us posted!
Kris
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com -
Hi Frank,
I help several video business owners develop/execute strategies for growth. Most of my time is spent managing/growing my video production company, Fire Eye Productions, Inc. but I found that there are many out there that need a little boost to get over the hump. I created a site that includes articles about different aspects of improving/growing a video business. The articles are free to registered users (also free) so have at it! (https://www.mindyourvideobusiness.com)
Regardless of whether or not you hire a consultant to help, you’ll need to spend a lot of time studying on your own. Forums like this and the many successful video business owners that frequent it will give you a lot of great information.
Probably most important, learn how to be a better entrepreneur overall. What you learn in the pursuit of improving business skills will roll over into your video business. Guaranteed.
Good luck!
Kris Simmons
Kristopher G. Simmons
Video Business Coach
https://MindYourVideoBusiness.com