How to get Business? Cleints?

BergVision said:
So what is the "RIGHT WAY" or "BEST WAY" to bring in Video Clients?


I have a 1/4 page, full color ad in the phone books in my area, I have a web site, Demo reel. etc.

But what is the best way to bring in new clients?
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Sounds like you answered your own question!
For me, word of mouth is the best. If a client liked the work I did for them, I encourage them to spread the word, and sometimes it yields new work.
 
Also...

Also...

BergVision said:
So what is the "RIGHT WAY" or "BEST WAY" to bring in Video Clients?

I DON'T shoot wedding, or do photo montages. I work with Corporate, Sales, Industrial, Heathlcare, etc.

I have a 1/4 page, full color ad in the phone books in my area, I have a web site, Demo reel. etc.

But what is the best way to bring in new clients?
Click to expand...
I thought some more about this when I was at lunch. If you are primarily concerned with doing corporate and industrials, is a 1/4 page yellow page ad really necessary? Seems to me like the only people scanning the phone book would be the couple looking for a wedding videographer or someone looking for a video montage to show at Uncle Fred's 80th birthday.

Demo reel, website, business cards=Good.

As much as it pains me to say it, you might want to make yourself known to local ad agencies or the like. They might be able to use your services, and find you some clients to work with.

My 4 cents. (I responded twice)
 
I started my business about 2 years ago, and I have to say that about 99.9% of my jobs have been through word of mouth. I'm in North Carolina, and I was shocked when I started getting calls from folks in Virginia just because they knew someone who knew someone who knew me. They went to my website viewed my reel and liked what they saw, so they hired me for the job. There have been some slow times when I thought about doing some direct mail ads to businesses, but things picked up and I didn't have to do that.

Another thing that I've thought about doing is joining the local Chamber of Commerce. That way I can get my name out there to potential clients (businesses) in my area.
 
Craigslist.com

Craigslist.com

My experience with CL is cheap people who want the world for nothing.

"I'm a bride getting married, I want a video of my wedding, I want everything shot, all 8 hours and I want 12 copies on dvd. Oh, by the way I only have $150 dollars to spend on the video."

The is the most commen I find on CL.

I just landed a pretty big corporate client although I'm not sure how much work they will be doing over the long run. My main focus is on highend corporate work as well as indi projects.
I am working on a project for the travel channel right now and hope to do more down the road.

I worked in LA California for 6 years and worked with many production companies who made a killing doing corporate/commercial work.
They had some nice clients though that kept coming back.
Bose, Redbull, etc. I'm not into doing the wedding, Montage thing at all.
I enjoy doing highend work.
 
Yeah, craigslist.com is good i guess if you want to have lots of little jobs, but never anything worth a whole lot of money.

Instead of finding a way to get steady jobs, you need to focus on finding that one contact that will allow your name to spread like wild fire.

You can bum video job after another. Or you can one director and become very friendly with him. In this industry word-of-mouth and referrals is the way to it!
 
word of mouth is good, when it takes effect, you'll be BUSY! at times, I've gotten gigs through word of mouth, and they didn't even want to see a demo of my work.
I've gotten a few gigs by pure cold calls too. I'll check out local websites and TV stations to see who advertising, make lists of these companies, then start to hit them. Companies who already spend money on media are already convinced of the benefits. Through cold calls, i've also gotten aligned with a local ad agency.
I'm a part of the local chamber of commerce, and from what I've heard, that alone gives you a bit of credibility, just being associated with an organization like the chamber really helps, and they are always throwing networking sessions and trade shows, giving you a chance to showcase yourself.
Finally, advertising for your production business is something im still discovering. I'm placing an ad in a local business magazine, but avoiding the yellowpages. The business magazine is a lot more expensive, but I know CEOs, marketting and advertising people get this magazine (the magazine provided me with demographic info). so we'll see how it all works.
 
Yellow Pages Ad

Yellow Pages Ad

Well, my ad comes out in Janurary so we will see how it goes.
I will also take your other advice.

I'll keep you posted!

THANKS!
 
Barry or Jarred, maybe we could make this a sticky? people could post what has worked good for them as far as marketing/advertising, getting their name out there?
It would be something a lot of people could get some use out of...:thumbup:
 
I agree! I will be updating this once my ad comes out in December and January.
I agree though, word of mouth is the BEST way!

troypod said:
Barry or Jarred, maybe we could make this a sticky? people could post what has worked good for them as far as marketing/advertising, getting their name out there?
It would be something a lot of people could get some use out of...:thumbup:
Click to expand...
 
bild da busyness by not how you say screw people over the top??
its raltonship? no to ah many people with a da ego watch he?
 
Hu?

Hu?

villeluna said:
bild da busyness by not how you say screw people over the top??
its raltonship? no to ah many people with a da ego watch he?
Click to expand...

What? I'm not sure what you were trying to say??
 
Hey, nice looking site. I enjoyed your reel too. :)

I don't sell video services (yet), but have built a large client base of print buyers. Perhaps some of things I've done will work for you.

Have you networked/aligned yourself with ad agencies and graphic designers? The ones in my area seem to have good luck landing and locking in contracts for the best work. They feed me work and I provide a reseller rate. Its a win-win.

I've also started finding independant sales agents...especially those who sell "Related" services. They may not know much about my services, but they are already out there making contacts. From there, I simply ask to tag along and they forward me contact names and such. I follow-up on the ones who are known to be intersted in learning more.

I'm not sure if postcards would work for you...but if you had an incentive for people to call, it might be worth a shot. Point them to your website. OR send your Reel to a select mailing list.

There's a few ideas for ya...hope it helps.

Best of luck to you!

Jeff
 
post card or even an interactive cd-rom. a few yrs back I requested one from Avid, and I got this great CD-rom in the mail which was an autoplay video. It went through the product and what not, and I thought that'd be great to send to potential clients.
I'm working on the video end for one of my own, but I just can't find a programmer who'll do the actual CD-ROM presentation for a reasonable price.
 
It's all about who you know. But if you don't know that many people that doesn't mean you're not gonna go anywhere, that just means that you need to get to know some people. Try joining a local chamber of commerce, art societies, etc.

One of the smartest things I've done is to donate my services to a local Art Center. They wanted to do a video on the history of their facility, so I offered to do is as an in-kind donation. They flipped, put me at the top of their list of donors, and the video gets shown to lots of up-high execs and business owners who support the Center.
 
BergVision said:
I have a 1/4 page, full color ad in the phone books in my area, I have a web site, Demo reel. etc.

But what is the best way to bring in new clients?
Click to expand...

Hey Berg,

I'm curious how well the phone book adds do. I've been thinking about it recently. I get most of my work through word of mouth or from people who hit on my resume on local shooter/producer boards here in SF. Not sure if there are any local boards in NC, but that's a good place to post a resume. I actually have gotten some great clients from Craigslist (MTV, Intel and others) but the good gigs are few and far between.
 
What i find on craigslist, and what has been now termed round these parts is "Craigslisting or Craigslisted" such as , this guy craigslisted me.

Its basically, "Hi, i offer video services"
"Great, do my shoot , how much?"
"600 bucks"
"Perfect! its on friday"
"ok"

Firday:
"hey, ready to go?" "hello......?" " anyone there?"
"............"

the end
 
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