How To Get Started and Stay In The Business

pulpwoody said:
...you have to realize that as a business owner, you now have many different roles, and one of those is sales/marketing monkey. ... You have to suck it up and step outside your comfort zone, or get a job, one of the two.

Read some books about business first, and then worry about what camera/computer/lights/monitor etc., you are using. Chances are, most of those are just a distraction from the real work of generating business...

I highly recommend reading "The E Myth Revisited." It sheds light on why many small businesses, such as mine and yours and everyone else's here fails. Read "Think and Grow Rich."

One of the best things we've done in the last year is ask ourselves, "who is our ideal client?"...

This may all sound tedious and less fun than setting up three light dolly shot with a 200mm prime lens, but this is WAY more important, and it becomes easier the more you do it. Remember, motivation follows action, not the other way around.

Ask yourself who your ideal client is. If you don't know, think about it, figure it out, and write it down...
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Rockstar post Pulpwoody!

You clearly "get it" and that in and of itself is what is giving you growth and success.

Identifying your ideal client and filtering through everyone else is the absolute key to building a small business, only then do you really know who you are, what your business is all about and how to find those clients. Wasting time trying to push a rope or convince someone how your creative skills will help them grow their business is a long tough road. It is so much easier to work with clients who "get it" too and then you don't have to sell them on pro crew, talent, proper equipment; they want the best for their business and have built it solid enough to afford all the cool gear we as production professionals dream of.

As soon as I hear "we don't need lights / makeup / permits / whatever" I say to myself "they dont' get it" and I have very little time and patience to educate them. I give it a try but I'm not their Momma!

Again, awesome story and thanks for the kind words! YOU deserve all the kudos and rewards for doing what few others will do and stick to. I'll reward you with a phone consult if you have some specific areas you'd like to work on or a face to face in LA or Vegas. Let me know!

Robert
 
I just started a business, this month. Tstop Cinema LLC, and i have to thank you for this thread. enlightening.

-Timur
 
Basspig have you contacted all the personal accident and injury lawyers in your area? I think you should aim for professionals who have their own practices with less than 10 employees. America is not the land of the free, but the land of lawyers and lawsuits. If I was in your country I would focus on serving lawyers and their lawsuits.

I like to think that if my existing clients don't call me it is because they simply don't have work for me, not because they don't like me or have forgotten about me or what not. You cannot manufacture work from them out of thin air no matter how many times you call. I don't think you should be contacting them once a month or even once every 3 months. 6 months sounds about right. You have to have the confidence that they will call you if they need you, you know? My business bank calls me once every 3 months that pisses me off already.

The important people in your life are the ones who stay and the ones who will come later, not the ones who leave. - Fidel Castro, paraphrased.

Haven't said that, do what you can to serve them so they will want to work with you again.
 
As a matter of fact, I did drop a note to some lawyers that have practices out of their homes in my general viscinity. Not even the courtesy of a reply from any of them.
Maybe I should contact the PA attorney that handled my rear end collision incident in 2007. In his spare time, he's a Jazz pianist.
It would be nice to get into depositions. It's nice because you come in, set up, record and hand over a tape and you're done and get paid for it. Hard to get into though.. a lot of places want certifications.
I'm still suspicious about the hospital though.. we were doing regular WEEKLY projects and then Vendormate happened and then.. no more work. I know that correlation does not imply causality, but the coincidence was well timed and projects they asked me to reserve dates for mysteriously vanished. Okay, maybe the marketing person I was working for died of a stroke and left no notes to her successor about hiring me.. who knows?
 
Basspig how many of these lawyers did you contact?

Also, what certifications? Maybe you should get them if they are not expensive.
 
Hello Robert, I have decided to now begin and take the initiative on trying to get corporate/commercial type clients. Obviously the difficulty is getting the clients. I am going to stick it out and continue no matter the success of the calls. Like you said, a call that brings you to the realization that the business doesn't value video production for their business is a great call; and as a result, someone you can mark off your potential clients list.

At the moment, I am calling a variety of companies and I am having trouble figuring out how to convey that I can help their business.
Like you stated as well, I am not thinking of these calls as cold calls, or even sales calls. Merely as information gathering calls. I just don't know how to make that connection to speaking about how my services could benefit them. For instance, if I get patched through to marketing and they ask how they can help me, I don't know how to convey my services across without sounding like I am making a sales call. I am optimistic I can do this, and know I am just having some sticking points. Would the best thing for me be to continue making the calls and forming how I should approach the calls? In all honesty, I just began today and have made 8 calls but it doesn't seem like they get very far. I am not sure if this has to do with the way I attempt to gather the information or some other reason.

To expand on the above, when someone in charge asks how they can help me, it feels like if I respond asking if they need video production services (whatever is relevant to that particular type of business, such as a commercial, or an information bit for their website explaining what they do, etc.) I would come across as another type of salesmen in a negative manner.

I truly appreciate what you have done with your thread on starting a business and staying in it. It has gotten my on the phone and taking action for what I want to succeed in.

Thank you Robert,

Marc Villafan.
 
Hi Marc!

Thanks for writing and most importantly congratulations on getting started!!!

It's a bit early and I need to get my day started but here's a quick response and I'll add to it over the weekend. Meanwhile, maybe Chromeboy, Pulpwoody and a few others can chime in.

The first thing I'd say is you need to get a hundred or so calls under your belt and hundreds more to get good at it. It's a bit like stepping out to pitch a ball in a game and you're expecting to fire a strike in there when you just started. But again, starting is everything and stopping is failure. You're halfway there!

The "how can I help you" answer is basically a set-up for the perfect home run; whether you DQ them as prospects or qualify them as prospects.

Your answer can be among the following:

"Can you point me to the person in your company who handles marketing and advertising?"

and they say "That would be me"

"Hi John/Jane, I own a production company based in Los Angeles and I wanted to find out if you guys already have a production company you work with or do you work with multiple companies"

and they say "We do everything in-house"

"Awesome! Do you ever need additional support for special projects"

or maybe they say "We've been working with XYZ Productions"

"What kind of projects do you do?"

"Are there other divisions of your company who use video as well?"

"Are these monthly / quarterly types of projects or ????"

"Are these pieces focused on clients / end users, sales, training or brand development?"

Basically, you want to continue fact finding as long as you can until they ask about you. Or reading in-between the lines whether this is bad timing and they are rushed where you'd ask if calling back at another time would be better for them.

You're subtly digging for information and hopefully trying to strike up a DIALOG not a SALES PITCH.

It's a fine line between the two indeed! Just talk slow, ask about what both the company does and the person does at the company and resist the urge to talk. Prior to the call you should have already hit their website and at this point you should be on their website which will give you info to base questions on. Such as:

"I watched a few of your product demos on your website, how did those work out for you?" "Do you do that for every product / service"

As you can imagine, the potential scripting for this can go on and on in any direction.

Start making a list of the kinds of feedback or questions you are getting and also sit down and think through how potential calls might go. Realize as well that you're going to blow an awful lot of calls to start and you'll occasionally reach a jerk or two. Practice makes perfect and you're going to do this the rest of your career in some form or another.

Think of it this way, if you can get just 1-2 qualified prospects in a week; companies you at least know use services like yours, you'll have 100+ prospects in a year and 500 in five years. A few of those will have immediate jobs and some may take 7-8 years to call you that is why you stay in touch. Sometimes the marketing person may want to use you but he/she is stuck using the bosses best friend. When that person leaves you hope they take your name with them. I call it musical chairs which now expands your reach.

Thus the importance of building a relationship and staying in-touch not just making sales calls. If you stay in touch people will tell you when they are leaving or you'll call, they'll be gone and you start over with the next person but don't forget to ask where the other person moved on to. Your relationship sticks with the individual and hopefully with their predecessor.

Again, congratulations for getting started which really is half the battle! The other half is sticking to it through the learning phases, then being consistent and persistent.

Robert
 
hey Marc,

Don't worry its not as scary as you think. People on the other line are usually quite polite. The important thing is knowing who you are calling and how you can help them MAKE MORE MONEY, or MAKE THEIR LIVES EASIER. Speak as a potential business partner, associate, or supplier, and not a sales person. (FYI, a good sales person sees himself as a potential business partner, not as a sales person...) You are asking to do business with them, yes, and you have to identify yourself as such immediately, or else they feel cheated if you pretend to be a potential customer first. Just don't go on bragging about how good you are and how you are best in town etc etc. Instead let them talk about what type of video service they might need and only then do you simply state that you can help. Discuss your experience in that type of service if you have any, if not just say you will be more than happy to move forward if there is a need. If there is one thing about yourself that you want to discuss, is your experience in doing what they need you to do. Tell some stories, your insights etc, but it's not that important unless they ask you.

Selling is "I have done hundreds of these videos and I'm sure I will do a good job."

Discussing is "Last month I did a shoot at a doctor's office in Mississauga... I like the fact that most doctors' offices are quiet and well lit, lighting and audio are always good!"... I sound like an expert here but the fact is that I have only done one or two such video.... :P


I haven't done any calls since January but here are a few examples of what usually happens in a conversation:

Example - injury lawyers
Me: "Hi I'm a professional videographer in Toronto. I have done some work in the past producing videos for accident & injury lawyers, helping their clients fight their cases. Do you often use videos for your accident & injury cases?"

From then on do what Robert said and have a conversation with them.. a lot of times it will end with them saying "Email me your contact info and we'll keep you in mind for next time..." Next time may not come, ever. But get their email and/or phone number and stay in touch, as Robert says. Like what the guy here doing all the bed and breakfasts in his area said, what you cannot control is if and when they call you, all you can do is stay in the picture. Sometimes they need something urgent and their regular supplier is not available, you want your name to be there when they scramble for another supplier.

Example 2 - Marketing firms
Me: "Hi I'm a professional videographer here in Toronto. I regularly partner with marketing firms to produce marketing videos for their clients. Do you get requests from clients to produce videos for them?" From then on same thing, ask them questions and let them talk. Tell them your stories and experience if you have some. Most likely outcome is exchanging contact info as above. It's the most typical positive outcome you can get from first phone call.

Things are a little slower now so I'll go on another run starting next week. I don't expect any results immediately. I met this marketer at a networking function over a year ago. We have been talking on and off about a couple of his prospects. And we finally firm booked a date next month to shoot one of his clients... over 1 year later man! I don't have as much experience as Robert does, but from what I experience myself Robert is right.
 
Exactly what they said!!!!!!

I'm actually going to borrow some of those lines too!!! You learn something every day.

Marc, as you start moving though your "selling" process, which consists of calls, face to face, emails, letters, etc., you may find that most of your clients are members of certain professional organizations, or belong to networking groups.

JOIN THEM......NOW!

This is the most efficient way to reach a target market, and they take you more seriously because you're part of their world, and that builds trust. It may cost you a few bucks, but trust me, that money WILL come back to you.

We did about a years worth of calls to attorneys here in town and around the state, with some success. As soon as we joined the local trial lawyers association, we got business...THAT DAY! I'm not kidding. I don't want to pass myself off as any kind of expert, because I'm not, but this is what has worked well for us.

Good luck to you, and keep reading Robstar's posts, they were invaluable to me, and are still valuable.
 
Pulp.. I guess perhaps there is some sort of proofing value of being an actual member of THEIR club, huh?

I have been investigating into a bunch of different associations and boards of trade... can't quite decide which one I want to join. They're all pretty expensive and they are seem to push you to join....

edit: Dude I just looked up my city lawyers' association, you need to be a practicing lawyer to join... I obviously am not one of those lol!
 
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Check again Chromey; almost all associations have "associate or allied industry memberships" that you can join. For instance, we were members of of resort development association even though we were not resort developers. It was an interesting deal, you could be a member for $2000 a year or you could buy a booth at their tradeshow for $2000 and get a free membership with it. Duh!

I know that some people may not have an extra $200 - $2000 to join as an associate membership in an organization but if it is an industry you intend to focus on then it is a good investment IF YOU WORK IT and stay with it long term. Become an "expert" in their field as it relates to your services. Become a speaker, attend keynote addresses where the leaders of that industry are predicting the future of how they see their future will look. They'll have sales and marketing seminars as well for their members and wow what a great seminar to attend to get inside the heads of their marketing POV and challenges. You can get ideas for how to solve those problems. What a great conversation starter on your next call "did you catch the marketing speaker at the conference a few weeks ago?". "Uh no I didn't go, where you there?" Get involved, understand and know as much about their industry and customers as they do or know more.

If you can't afford to join, offer a trade in services for a bartered membership. Offer to video tape their keynote speakers and certain seminars, provide a free video with an open and close with your company name and give them a copy for their website or a link to it on your Vimeo / YouTube account.

Another thing you can do if you're considering exhibiting is to request a day pass or tour with their convention sales person to show you around the show and see if it is the right fit. Scope the competition or make a alliance with some other vendor who can use your services for a co-promotion. What do you see Red Bull, Coke and all the big companies doing.... co-op promotions with complimentary brands who have the same potential client base. You can do this too on a smaller level.

If there's a will there's a way!

Robert
 
mrWr0ng said:
A lot of the market is moving towards the owner/operator freelance model. They want people that own that particular camera over someone who rents it. Personally, it doesn't really make a difference to them whether or not you own the equipment or have rented it, they just want to be absolutely, 100% sure you have that camera. The entry level freelance market will be this way for a while, I assume, and even grow bigger.

There are perks to owning your gear: It's available anytime that you are, it's available without you (not always the best idea, but you can rent your gear out and make a $ here and there, or if you work with a group of people who want your equipment but you're not available, you can send someone you trust w/ the camera to make sure you're still securing that gig), and you have a consistency in your own work because it's always with the same equipment.

When you're working open-invitation gigs at entry level, they request a specific camera and they want that owner to know that that operator/owner relationship is there. But for these gigs, they are paying for the equipment, NOT the operator. They don't pay very well, people generally don't know what they want, they've just heard this camera makes a great image and they want it, too.

The next level of gigs are experience and operator-based gigs. You've got the demo reel. You've got the chops. They've already heard of you. And they're willing to pay for YOU. And in that case, you're making enough that you can rent (or have them cover the cost is even better) and go with what you want because you're making the stylistic choice of camera.

I've typically worked the entry-level stuff with my camera, advertising it with me as an operator. It's been a plus because lots of people know the DVX and want that brand name, and it gets me through the door to collect a lot of these gigs. 2 years ago I had no experience, no resume and no camera. Now I'm working consistently, getting closer to what I want to be doing, and building my network and income. In enough time, I'll be at the point where my camera isn't attached to me, it's just one particular choice I can make w/ regards to a gig.

But a lot of the people who make big money doing this stuff have been at it a decade or more. The first couple of years are what make or break you. If you make it over that hump, then hang in a little longer and it'll grow. I think owning gear is very helpful here, but if you work in a city with an established system (especially LA) then this isn't gonna make a difference because everyone rents anyways. If you're in podunk, MI, then it'll help because owning will tell someone that if their shoot suffers a reschedule, that you'll still have that exact gear package the next day you're available. That means something to them. But in those cases, still, they're paying for the gear, not you.
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I went back to the beginning of the thread and re-read a lot of the posts and found this to be very reflective of what's going on.

I just recently replied to a CL ad from a production company looking for freelance shooters. I briefly described my gear in my original email and he came back and asks me for a thorough list of my gear. Right there and then it reminded me of this post. The guy is renting my gear with me tagged along with it, not hiring me.

However it still doesn't mean that I wouldn't take the opportunity, it just gives me insight into the mind set of the dude. I also realized that a lot of freelance opportunities from other production companies are what Mr. Wrong describes here as entry level. They want to know exactly what you have.

Right now I'm bouncing between this entry level and second level. Still not at a position where I can dismiss gigs.
 
I am thinking a lot about renting out my gear, as it has only seen use five days in 2010 and only twice so far this year. The problem is that I don't know the ins and outs of being a rental outfit, protecting my gear, determining of a potential renter is presenting a valid rental insurance paper, etc. I've had requests to rent my gear in the past, from shady folks in a city known for high crime, and I am cautious about letting my gear out of my sight and into the hands of strangers. If my three PMW cameras could be earning me a grand a day, though, that's something I have to risk. Any suggestions for minimizing risk with renting out gear?
 
If you can't afford to lose them, and you don't have all the contractual protocols for a proper rental business in place, only rent to people you know, not strangers. Another reason to network.

Basspig do you do weddings?
 
I have hired out to a local a couple of times when I was the only other XDCam owner in the state, but now that the cam's pretty popular, I'm no longer in demand. A couple of shady fellows tried to get me to rent them one of my cameras about a year ago, but when I did some checking around, I got concerned and decided against doing so. It does seem a shame to have three PMW models sitting around idle for 360 days a year, when they could be making me money.

I am capable of doing weddings and willing to do them. However, I get about 10 inquiries a year and no bookings. Mostly, folks choosing low price (the $600 wedding video) over my $1500 deluxe package. However, one lady recently inquired but went with another videographer. She said she felt she didn't have a very good connection with me, so she went with the other. I even matched the cheap price and cautioned her about the caveates.
So in 8 years, I have done four weddings. Three of them were friends of my wife's. The other was a friend of my cousin's. I have never done a wedding for a complete stranger yet. The visit our site, kick the tyres and move on. Or, they ask for a price list, I provide it, and never here from them again.

I'm trying to get corporate work. I recently had a couple of tastes of corporate, one for a law firm and another for a hospital. The law firm was in a pinch and needed to quickly hire a videographer to cover a panel discussion. That was 2 years ago. It went great and they were surprised how little I charged but were very happy with the results. No repeat business though, despite having them on my mailing list for regular newsletters, postcards and so on.
The local hospital hired me last October to shoot a merger celebration. It was a last minute decision, and I was apparently the only one in the area that was available. I did the gig and the following week they hired me immediately for another gig. Both went well. Pay was great. They dictated the pay, and it was higher than I would have asked, so I was very happy. They were happy with the results, too. However, a short time later, they held up processing my invoices, saying that I have to join VendorMate, a sort of background checking outfit, or I can't do work in the hospital industry. Well I had to pay a sum of money for their subscription and background check. I did eventually, after some objections about this not being put to me on the front of our relationship, but only AFTER the work was in the can, and I figured that we were set to work on more projects. But I never heard from them again and they ignored e-mails and regular postal mailings I send out to clients to keep them thinking of me. I managed to get a response from the marketing person there this week, after a 3 month silence and she said they don't have any projects at this time, which seemed strange, as a check of their youtube page showed new video up there that was made 2 months ago by someone else. Because of the merger, I know they're doing a lot of marketing video. But oddly, after the VendorMate background check, they turned cold shoulder on me. So what if they found I owed back taxes? That's not my fault. I didn't run up a debt and choose not to pay it. I can't figure out what else VendorMate found, other than the real estate tax liens. It's difficult to eat, pay utility and heat bills on $3,080 a year gross income. Not possible to pay a $5770 tax bill every year, just not possible.
I'd like to get more corporate work though, because the environment and the pay is good. Professionals, not Bridezillas, if you know what I mean.
 
It is very easy to set up for rentals as long as you have policies, paperwork and stick to them. I went 25 years not doing rentals and regret it; I left a ton of money on the table. Setting up a rental program is outside the intent of this thread but if I have time I'll set up another thread and links to some forms and our policies. The short answer is once people start putting up ID, credit cards, signing agreements and providing certificates of insurance you weed out the jerks pretty quick. Having your gear working when you're not is almost like free money!

Robert
 
Please let me know when you do and link to it. I would like to become educated on the strategies to best avoid the pitfalls.
I agree, if my gear could be making me a few hundred a day, that would keep the bills paid around here.
 
I second that Rob. Thanks! So far I have only been renting my lights out to friends etc. I have a 64GB P2 card here. I'm sure that will be of use to some HVX/HPX shooters locally.

Basspig you have to drop your price. $600 in your pocket is better than $1500 in someone else's. If 10 people in a row aren't willing to pay your price, then your price is too high.

Also, pick up a copy of Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People, as well as How to Communicate Effectively, especially the second book. They are make have's in any business person's bookshelves.
 
Also, I'm trying to hook myself up with a wedding producer / editor right now. She charges $1800 for 2 camera SD shoots. SD! She gets lots of work because she has years of experience, a good rep and a good personality, and her shooters do a good job too.

experience + good rep + good work + good personality -> good money. Need me say more?
 
These people doing it for under $600 probably have no insurance and are doing really rough cut editing, no frills. Can we come up with a package that doesn't take 40 hours to edit? I don't know, but I fear it's the $600 wedding videographers that have given wedding video a black eye. Earning below minimum wage, unless it's for a demo reel and we get rights to use it for promotion with no strings attached, is a bad idea. It also sets a bad reputation precidence (the cheap guy--oh, go hire him because he'll do it cheap). The other problem is you get the "Grinders" coming to your door--the cheapskates who niggle for 'just one more edit' and who complain constantly that they're getting ripped off because you've cut your services to fit the budget. No thanks!

I do a journalistic style wedding coverage. I also have a full-scale film/theatrical style package in selected venues with pre-arrangements for $19,995. That's shot with jib crane shots, multiple wireless mics on major 'stars' (guests, B&G) and there is some coaching of the primary persons to get a more theatrical performance (and to be aware that every word they utter is being recorded for the 'movie'). These are intended for CEOs/doctors daughters weddings where the tab for the wedding is in excess of $200,000.

I have Dale Carnegie's book from almost 30 years ago. It's easy to read a lot of books. I've read a ton of 'self help' books, but it doesn't change you. You are what you are, the sum of all your tragedies, traumas and successes. If you've had more trauma than success, well....
 
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