How To Get Started and Stay In The Business

It dawned on me earlier this year that it's not services that offer any future--the market is saturated with that--but content.
I've an ambition to make a short movie, and later, a longer story, along the lines of a hybrid of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, mixed with a bit of Agatha Cristie-type mystery. Since I've no budget for spectacular FX or action sequences, I'd focus on dialog-intensive story-telling. The script will need to be powerful and the actors will need to be good character actors.
Anyone remember Jim Henson's "The Cube"? That intrigued me since the night I saw it. It was filmed in one room, a featureless cube, and featured a string of talented actors making cameos while actor Richard Schaal tries to figure out why he's trapped in there. Such a story could be done in one location, minimal budget.
Nature videos sound interesting, but I felt that the market had lots of them already.
However, in viewing Pioneer TV demo, and talking with a rep from Pioneer that was at a local Best Buy one evening, it dawned on me that there is a lack of superior-quality HD demo content for showing off the new plasma/LCD TVs. The demo footage I saw was so-so but not spectacular. One thought is to make reels for different stores, with their branding on it, to help them sell TVs by showing how good it can really look.
I've got a lot of short clips on YouTube and other places, but very little traffic, if you can even count 1-2 views per day.
I have the same problem with my web site. Even if I sell through the web, I've no traffic at all. I'm running a Google AdWords campaign now. Averaging 50-80 impressions/day and one click every other day. I know I need about 100 clicks before I get a phone call, and about 20 phone calls before one turns into a client. I'm a long way from generating web traffic to make an effective online sales channel.
Been doing stock footage for a year, sold two clips so far and made a grand total of $42 for the year.
Back about 7 years, I put out a DVD of the International Auto Show in NYC. Sold two copies on eBay. Bids were $0.99. One bid was $10 and the winner was a non-paying bidder. After several months of relisting that item, I dropped it. eBay fees were a net loss.
I've had some wild ideas, like doing what Art Clokey did with Gumby in the 50s. Actually, what's been a long-running unfinished project was a mental visualization I had while listening to a certain piece of French organ music. I scripted out the whole thing in 1982, tried to build it with models and realized it was futile to achieve 'infinite horizon' with clay models and even a 6' spinning drum for the terrain in a flyover scene that lasts for 4:49. I revived it again in 1987 having bought a tube camera, but ran into the same issues. Then in 1995, I started poking with the idea of CG animation, but the computer hardware slowed to a crawl when I tried to build the scene as massive as it needed to be.
In 2008, I got the computing power, and Maya software, and worked on building out the terrain. But I need to model lots of realistic pre-historic creatures, to match the vision I saw in my imagination. I modeled scores of oil rigs for one particular scene, where the rythm suggests some mechanical machines working. Left to do are numerous animals, trees, a giant space hangar, etc. And clearing the copyrights to the composition, which was written in the early 20th century. I performed it using organ samples via MIDI, but the music is still someone else's creation. That's been sitting on a shelf for a while again.
I was out today shooting hours of waterfalls, eroded rock formations, rivers and trees. I collect footage, with the plan that some small percentage may make it into a finished production.
Having a clear vision of what to do would help. There are a variety of options. I'm not a great CG artist. I'm not a great musician or composer, but I can arrange other people's music to match the special rendition I hear in my head.
 
It dawned on me earlier this year that it's not services that offer any future--the market is saturated with that--but content.
Click to expand...
I would agree with this 100%. People think it's gear, and then offering something with your gear. But that market is indeed saturated. If I were a lender, private, public, anything, and someone came to me with that plan, unless they had a series of clients lined up, plus a stellar background history, I'd pass.

It's all about marketing, networking, and matching your content to an audience willing to pay enough to cover your costs.

Thanks also for sharing your history. Stories to learn from there for the rest of us.
 
I've moved and need/want to get back into film/video work. (I had to take time off from paying video work for a number of reasons. I did keep working on personal projects, in particular documentaries, and ended up doing a lot of audio work)

Now, ~6 yrs later, technology and the web have really changed the industry/work possibilities. I want to start my own company and sort of assumed I needed to make it a multimedia company, aiming at video for the web in particular.

After reading these posts I'm starting to think maybe a "regular old" video company would still make sense, especially because I prefer to spend more of my time in pre to post production, rather than being at a computer all day. (of course, making videos does require a lot of time in front of a computer too)

On the other hand, I do have more and more familiarity with websites, related software, encoding etc. Would I be better off marketing myself as a multimedia company? My strengths are writing and directing. To tell the truth, even email makes me allergic at times, so I haven't really gotten into the whole social media, blogging, twitter realm- though I could if business demanded it. What do others think? Are you being asked by clients to do more and more work that involves live streaming, video podcasts, etc.?

Starting out in a new town, after being away from the business for 6 years, should I make the plunge and market and develop myself as a multimedia company? Would I get more clients that way? (I do feel I can do the web/mobile/streaming aspects of the work or hire someone to do what I can't) Are many of you finding yourselves doing more and more video for web related purposes? Is there a difference at this point in what a "video company" would do or be hired for as opposed to a "multimedia company" since so much of the work is for the web?

One last thing, at this point most of what I have to put on my website or reel are longer clips that show my writing and directing skills, and secondarily my cinematography and editing. Should I have more specific web video samples to get work as a multimedia provider?

I look forward to reading your opinions on this.
 
Basspig, SnowLeopard & MissMay...

You're all onto what is the essence of building a successful business / career and that it's not about the gear, it's not about what you call yourself; it's all about creating solutions that help other people build their business.

"The client's needs dictate the solution, the solution dictates the content and the content dictates the equipment required". Until you know the client's needs how can you possibly offer them a solution?? Equipment is last on the list.

For the umpteenth time and repeat after me: "You can always rent gear but you can never rent a client".

It's a bit irrelevant what you call yourself though I have to say multimedia is IMHO somewhat worn out. It was a catch-all phrase for a period of time.

At the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce breakfasts (a/k/a networking opportunities before the work day starts) a few members and guests are given the opportunity to stand up, introduce themselves and give their 30 second description of what their company does. Think of it this way; you stepped into an elevator, meet someone who asks what you do and you have 30 seconds.

Here's how ours goes:

"Hi, my name is Robert Starling with Starling Productions. We help small, medium and large companies grow their business with photography, video, commercials and graphic design. Again, my name is Robert Starling with Starling Productions; thanks for coming this morning, I'll be around after breakfast if anyone has questions or if you want my contact information."

That's pretty simple and easy to understand. Occasionally I'll change the end and offer a free copy of my "Twenty most important questions every business owner must answer" if they see me after the meeting.

Basspig, you're making great progress and SnowLeopard I think it would be great if you could chime in here to help... same for you Grinner as time permits.

Robert

ps for Basspig - I'm no English major but a few spaces between paragraphs would visually make your posts easier to read by my tired end-of-day eyes. :embarasse
 
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Social Networking As Marketing Opportunities?

Social Networking As Marketing Opportunities?

How many of you are active in the various social networking sites and use them to any degree as either a direct or indirect form of marketing / keeping in touch with your peers, prospects and clients? Are your efforts planned and intentional or simply random?

Tell me you stories of success and even challenges as it relates to social networking.

Rewards await those who share their stories...

Thanks!

Robert
 
Hi Robert,

Been following this thread for a while.
I am 60, a career broadcast journalist who got a buyout 8 years ago after 35 years in the biz.
I still do contract work for the national broadcaster here, CBC.
Fifty days or so a year.
Decided to try my hand at video production and formed a company in 2003.
I worked in TV operations a hundred years ago, and shot some 16mm film way back when.
In college we used 2" video tape, then one 1".
Anyway, back on track.
Dumped a bunch of money into equipment (this will get a rise I know)and worked out of my basement for several years.
A couple of years ago I moved into an office thinking that would raise my profile, credibility and the rates I could charge.
Cash flow has slowed and I'm thinking of moving back home to cut costs IF I can sublet.
Turns out a lot of my clients don't even know of care that I have an office.
I have had some pretty good gigs and am currently in the running to produce employee orientation and health and safety content for a major pet supply company.
There are projects circling, but not landing.
It's frustrating.
I have a channel on Vimeo, and just today I sent out a link to a potential client, an environmental engineering company.
I moved a project we did for a similar company recently to the top of the Vimeo pile.
It takes the viewer to 20 or so project samples.
http://vimeo.com/channels/60138
We've carved out a little niche in the retirement residence business but they aren't spending like before.
So to social networking.
Last night I got set up on Facebook.
Don't know where that's going to go.
And maybe what I'm doing here is stopping for directions.
I'm on Twitter too, thanks to a Tweeting friend but rarely use it.
I have to find a social networking strategy that produces results, gives me contacts.
I guess that’s the point, right?
I'm not the type to sit at a computer for hours engrossed in meaningless banter, but if it means I don't have to sell my gear, I'll listen.
I have an aversion to orange aprons and the smell of lumber!

Regards,

Dan
 
I'm on FaceBook, after a broadcast station owner and friend urged me to join for 'business opportunity expansion', but so far, all I get are stray animals from Farmville and everyone elses status updates. I've not gotten ANY new work from social networking.

I also joined TurnHere last winter. I have not received ANY assignments from them so far. I invested an hour of my time to participate in their mandatory webinar, which seemed to suggest that regular and frequent assignments would come to videographers with good client ratings. What they didn't tell me was that if you don't have yet a client with them, you ain't gonna get no work!

I normally get space between paragraphs when I hit the CR button, but as this editor doesn't do that, I'll hit it twice to make more space for those with tired eyes.
 
haha

haha

Stray animals from Farmville, hahaha, that has me cracking up.

We have a Facebook page, yeah, we have expanded our efforts to get on search engines (#2 for media production los angeles on Google), and to get our company more exposure, so far, so good, we already got contacted from a big company on the Google search. Submitted a bid, and we'll see what happens. It's a great contract, if we get it, but that's assuming they weren't just using our bid to lower the bid of another company, basically. There's always that risk, grr. But we feel like it's 60-40 in our favor.

TurnHere is our direct competition, their prices are competitive, but we can beat what they offer in quality and in cost generally. Their cheapest package is cheaper than what we can offer, but our cheapest package is barely more and offers a lot more value, probably twice as much value. I think they are a good company, it seems like they're a really good solution, but I think I can beat what they do.
 
I can't think of the number of times my news feed was littered with "a stray black sheep wandered..." ugh... Glad I figured out how to block Farmville.

I've gotten my last two gigs due to Google search. They were both pretty good quality gigs, one was a law firm shooting a panel discussion on short (2 days) notice and the other was an employee of a non profit TV network that was doing a nice memorial service for a friend. The latter was shoot and deliver raw footage and the money was even better.

As far as TurnHere goes, they're just vaporwork, as far as I can tell. I've not heard anything at all from them since signing up and I've even e-mailed them. They seem about as real to me as Crews-Control, another outfit that claims to hire videographers from all over the country but I've not heard from either.

Maybe I should up my rates to ridiculous levels, and see if that attracts really high-power clients. Maybe $125/hr or $1000/day is just beneath a lot of the clients I'm after..
 
haha

haha

We don't try to be the cheapest, but definitely not the most expensive either. It just depends. We're starting to offer other packages for companies that can't afford our primary services, and then with those packages I will just hire a videographer, they will deliver raw footage to me, I'll edit or pay to have it edited, and deliver to the client basically. Then with the real work I'll direct it myself and take care of the details.

It's a tough economy to be doing video work in some ways, but it's also a great time I believe because my company focuses on adding online video components to clients' Websites, and it's just the time when a lot of companies are realizing they must do this and now is as good of a time as any.

I'm really hopeful for a good 2010, we'll see, but if the deals we have on the table convert to signed contracts then we'll be well over $100,000 in business for the first 4-6 months just on those alone, and a good chance to get it to a respectable level. I figure I need about $250,000/year to keep in business, so this would be a great start at least. We'll see, fingers crossed...
 
Boom

Boom

Nailed it, we got our first big deal! Very excited. Should keep me busy for the early part of 2010, anyway, and it's enough to cover ALL business expenses and sales person salary and whatnot for the entire year, plus a bit more. It'll be hard work but we're on track now! Just need some more deals closed this year to get 2010 rolling.
 
Well done!
For the benefit of others, do you feel that there was one turning point in your strategy that really helped you gain this contract... or do you feel you were quite lucky? haha


Cheers


Tom.
 
An influential music client called me on Friday and asked if I'm available to make a concert recording on the 14th. I had to postpone an Anime club meeting to clear the date, but it looks like there's a high possibility of another concert gig. There's money for a heating oil delivery. (My wife will be happy, as it's been rather chilly in the house with the outside temps being in the 20s lately.) Orchestra committee must approve, and the soloist's mother must agree to the recording fee, but my client seems confident all will fall into place. She is my biggest ally in the world of classical music, being a very satisfied client on a recording I did for her daughter in 2008. So if this gets the go ahead, I will finally be vindicated on my choice of owning three XDCam cameras.
 
finchy said:
Well done!
For the benefit of others, do you feel that there was one turning point in your strategy that really helped you gain this contract... or do you feel you were quite lucky? haha

Cheers

Tom.
Click to expand...

Honestly it's just been a lot of persistence. Some people, myself included before this year, really don't understand how difficult it is to land those early clients when you start a business. I never really tried that hard, in reality, even though I thought I was "trying hard." Because I'm not a sales person, with no training, and really no idea what to expect, I would send out some e-mails, post some stuff on craigslist, and then when I got a bunch of nos, I'd get depressed and sorta sit there for a day or two thinking this isn't going to work. Well, that's not really the way to go! lol. But with my full-time sales lady, she does this all day, every day. We've had PLENTY of bad news. An apartment virtual tour video fell through, one we were feeling pretty good about, then a second apartment building that we also had an in-person meeting at their new building, we haven't heard from them at all. I don't know what is up, because she has a friend / former co-worker in that company (the parent company of the apartment building, basically), and we sent them a reel after a good meeting, etc. It was looking like a go, I mean 70% good at least. But both deals fell through. Then again, those were tiny projects, maybe $5,000 to $6,000 deals, not really going to keep my company alive with the overhead we have and whatnot. Still, would have been nice to add to the reel and do some work!

This deal was certainly made easier by the fact we've already done this type of work for another company in their industry, basically the same thing, even similar company sizes. We did 14 virtual tours, 2 corporate videos, and 1 training video for that company. This one is 16 virtual tours, a TV commercial, and 1 training video, so pretty similar scope of work and a bit bigger contract. I think it was just being persistent in targeting companies in this market, and her making lots and lots of phone calls. I'm not sure if there was really much of a secret besides that. She has been working for 4 months and this will be our first deal. So of course I had friends asking, man, what's taking so long, no work yet still? But when you're selling a product or service like this, it does take a lot longer, it's a long sales cycle. Now she will be rolling and we'll be getting deals coming in hopefully every month at least, not of this size, but at least the small or medium ones. It takes that first 3-6 months of hard work just establishing yourself and getting those contacts out though.

She's also been more aggressive about getting us listed all types of places, online, business directories, making our Facebook page, putting us on search engines, etc. She's kind of new to all that too so she's been learning. But that will pay off next year. We've gotten two calls now from people who found us, which is fantastic, one could lead to about a $30,000 deal. We're pretty optimistic about that one, I'd say 60/40 in favor of us, so you never know how these things go but that's one we think we'll get yet this year, mid-December.

I believe business in general is so difficult because as a business owner, I mean someone who starts up a new business, you pour SO MUCH time and money into it and you cannot expect any reward for quite some time. Almost any solid business will not be profitable in the first year, and has high startup costs, I mean not "high" but for the individual, whether it's a restaurant or a video business or whatever. If you really take your business seriously and want to start it the right way, that usually involves some money upfront on the corporate filing fees, launching a really solid Website, printing business cards, maybe flyers, going to some conferences (sometimes a waste -- I hate them so far, big waste), maybe taking out some paid advertising, buying a bunch of equipment, or at least some equipment, etc. And all this for something you have no idea whether it'll work or not, where the odds are basically against you. So I really respect anyone who goes through all of that, haha, because it's the tough path, it's a lot easier to just get a paycheck! But for me I'm starting to see that light at the end of the tunnel, that time where the hard work and investment will pay off and it'll all have been worth it. I hope it works out like that, at least, and I am starting to feel confident about a good 2010.

I just think, well, I guess I wonder if other business owners go through that stress, and I imagine they do. I've had so many nights where I couldn't sleep well because of the barrage of negative thinking. "This isn't going to work, nobody has money to spend, I won't find clients. Even if I find clients, it won't be enough to cover my expenses, and even though I feel I'm really good at this and can do everything from customer relations to directing and producing and helping with marketing, all of my skills will go wasted. Then I'll have to fold the business. Then I'll have to move back home to a rainy city and work for my dad, in the process losing my dignity and self-respect, and my dreams." Then suddenly, you realize, business isn't just a win-lose game, it's like a life-or-death game, because sure I won't DIE if my business doesn't succeed, but if I have to quit film and go do something else, a big part of me will die, and I will not be the same person I was before. I'll just be another person with unrealized dreams and unhappy about life. So that is a lot of stress, on anyone, and of course I've had the less-than-supportive friends who have chosen alternate paths and think I should go be a PA or grip or something, because I didn't graduate 3-year film school or because they don't think I can do this.

All I can say is that type of experience that you go through, and having people doubt you, even your own girlfriend at the time (horrible, horrible person, ends up), just makes success taste that much sweeter. I can say that if 2010 ends and we're doing well like I think we will be, it will be the greatest year of my life. It will be the realization of years of hard work and sweat equity and self-doubt and naysayers, and to stand atop that hill with a successful company will be, to me, a wonderful feeling. So I guess what I think is important to remember is you just can't quit, you have to be patient, and persevere, and don't be bothered by the no's. I swear 4-5 weeks ago I wasn't sure this deal would be alive still, or that it would go through, and we had just heard about the one that didn't, and I was very pessimistic and negative. And now I'm thinking, hey, wow, we're doing it! This deal will fund our operations through next year, and that gives us essentially 14 months to pour on the gravy. I need more than that for an entire year of course, but the point is with as active as she has been, we're going to start hitting more often and getting more people to contact us, and get referrals, so the business will blossom. Heck if she could score one $90K deal every 4 months, still, sign me up! That'd be ok. :)
 
Let me get this straight... you hired a sales lady? Are you paying a salary, or just commission? I ask, because I was thinking of doing the same thing.
Like other high-functioning Autistics, I am exceptionally proficient with equipment, but abyssmal in dealing with people. I never realized I had the problem until my daughter was diagnosed as such and then I educated myself on Aspergers and autistic spectrum disorder. It turns out I have all the symptoms, but because I became an adult before the medical community identified and pigeonholed this condition, I was never aware I had the condition. But now, more than ever, I realize I need a normal person with social skills to handle the client acquisition and new client seeking.
 
Yup

Yup

Yes, I hired a full time sales lady in July, and she is currently an hourly employee, full-time, plus commission. Her commissions increase based on the amount of work she finds, but I think it's reasonable for both of us, haha.

This was something I really should have done much earlier, frankly. Everyone seemed to act like I should just be doing it all myself, including my dad, "Well it's your company, you know it best, so you are going to have to get the business." No, that made no sense, and I knew it made no sense from the start, which is why I had a business partner with my first company whose job was supposed to be sales. He didn't succeed at it, and things didn't work out, but it was still a good idea to have one person handle production and the other handle sales. Now it's like a team, only I'm the 100% owner of the company, which is good. No company will be able to grow like I would want a company to grow with one person doing it all anyway, and when people say, "Well you could grow the company then eventually hire other people, blah blah," yeah well none of that is going to happen either unless you get things off the ground. So you might as well start it the right way if you have the funding and be ambitious, at least that's what I figured. It was either take a risk with more of my money and hire a sales lady, then hope to succeed, or take the bigger risk of not hiring anyone and just hoping I could do it all. That would have been almost sure failure.

The reason I say it makes no sense to do it all yourself is simple. You cannot possibly run a great, successful business and make a lot of money if you're having to do the marketing and the jobs. When I'm busy on this contract, I'll probably be working 8-12 hour days, 6 days a week, trying to finish it off and get to the next project, which she will have found. But if you do it all yourself, IF you find a job, that's great, but now you have to go do that job and you're not going to be able to focus on marketing or speaking with other clients until after it's done. Then you finish, you wait around for another few months, no work, and then maybe land another job. That's a recipe for failure. The only exception is videographers, which I am not a videographer, who rely on referrals and work one day, two days, whatever, then on to the next job. Obviously that's fine but that's hardly what I consider a business. That's just an independent contractor, frankly, not an actual business operation. It's no more a business than fixing someone's computers yourself. Yeah, you're "in business," but your business ONLY makes money on your labor, which is hardly what I consider to be a real business. A real business is one setup to make money in general, where parts are interchangeable.

The idea is that in the future, I could leave this business alone entirely and it would continue to make money, without me lifting a finger basically. Obviously that'd be a long ways off, but you eventually hire other sales associates, working under your sales and marketing head, and you hire another producer who deals with the actual production side, hires directors, DPs, etc. Then you write some checks or steer the ship but that's about it, or you pay someone else to do that too. The problem I have with the idea of being a videographer, unless you just love to do that and that's your passion, which is great, is that you're not ever really establishing any sort of business. The entire benefit in my mind to being a businessman instead of being a laborer is that you don't have to be working to make money, at least at some point down the road. When I owned a bunch of online sites, I could go on vacation and queue up some newsletters and updates and those suckers would auto-send out for a week, I'd make $100/day, and I hadn't done anything but relax in the sun. I would make money whether I was sleeping, drinking, playing video games, whatever. Didn't matter. THAT is the goal of a successful business. Otherwise you have all of the disadvantages of being an employee (being told what to do on everything, always having to charge by the hour for what you do so you don't work, you don't make money), but none of the advantages (steady income, health care paid, some job security, etc.).
 
Good story. I was curious about the cost of the sales person because I am at the realization that I do more harm than good making cold calls myself. But the financials don't enable me to pay a salary. Not even one week's worth. Frankly, with the labor laws, I really DON'T want to open myself up to all those legal liabilities--I'd prefer to find a consulting marketer to get the accounts and that person takes a percentage. No legal commitments, no healthcare costs, no unemployment insurance taxes, etc. At least not at this stage of things.
So far, I've grossed about $4,000 in video production/shooting jobs this year. The rest of my income came from web site maintenance, archiving old analog audio recordings for one particular client, and my wife's barely above minimum wage income. My real estate tax bill is 2.4 X my gross income.
I would like to figure out how to jump the gap between here and having a real business running that is autonomous.
 
As your business grows or if you have the credit / capital to fund it, hiring a Marketing Coordinator or a Sales Associate can make very good sense. I've gone both ways with it and have had good success.

Going back to differentiating Sales versus Marketing, the later is what occurs prior to the sale or sales attempt.

It was a Marketing Coordinator we hired that got us in the door and doing work for Disney; she was tenacious about research, calls, follow up and notes. But, she wasn't a closer and that fell on my shoulders which I'm very comfortable with. Marketing Coordinator salaries are modest to medium expenses but typically salaried with bonuses added.

It took a long time to find a really good sales person as most of them seemed to sell themselves to get hired better than they actually made sales. A good salesperson can be a handful to manage as they typically have unique personalities which is not a bad thing. My best salesperson was with me more than five years, became like a brother and still is to this day. Unfortunately, even though he was making great money with us, AVID hired him away to sell for them and it was a great opportunity for him.

One of the best things about having someone do this level of work for you; either marketing or sales is that they can say things about you as an artist, creative or business person that you could not say about yourself without sounding like an ego maniac. They need to be not just a robot repeating words, but someone who believes in you and the company and acts as a cheerleader.

The one note of caution I'd give to anyone considering hiring someone is to set up a system like I described back in the beginning of this thread and monitor them, don't just assume they are doing it well. Listen to their calls and discuss how the calls went based on the notes they made. Don't critique every call, just do an update daily or every few days. If they're not meeting quota's cut them and find someone who will. I waited too long to dump the deadwood more than once.

With a salesperson or marketing coordinator it can take 6-9 months to see results, the same as it would if you do it. You can pay a salary that is a draw against future commissions so they have something to live on during that period. You might pay a larger commission to bring in each new client and then a more reasonable commission for repeat jobs. This keeps them from getting lazy and living completely off the old work; instead always looking for new clients. Because as I've said before, you can always rent gear and staff but you can never rent a client!

Robert
 
Yup

Yup

That's so true, once you have the client and the contract then you can rent or hire everyone else. The client is the key, the life blood of the company.

I don't monitor my sales lady, we've established a certain degree of trust, but in my mind I got pretty lucky that I picked her. I had some good candidates, but not as many as I had hoped. I considered about 8, and of those I would say 5 were pretty solid, a few very good, but the guy I nearly picked just wouldn't have worked out so well. His effort wasn't there, despite the presentation.

This lady was great, I asked the final two candidates if they could send me a plan for their first six months, what they would do, how they'd try to secure business. The guy lost immediately basically by saying "Well I'd just call lots of people and figure out the needs of the clients and just get out there" or some lame thing. No real plan at all. She sent me a spreadsheet plan, point by point, exactly where she wanted to be after six months, a year, what kind of business she felt was realistic, who she'd call, etc. I was impressed.

Then I've never prompted her for a lot of stuff she just gives me. After three months, I think it was, she sent me a three-month update that was a detailed list of where we stood with a bunch of clients, how she felt about the prospect of getting business, what she was doing going forward, new targets, etc. She's extremely organized and dedicated, which is what I wanted. I trust her to work hard, she works from home, so I can't monitor her, but I can see the results or the effort. And so far, so good. I think next year will be fantastic for us, but I'm happy to have someone who I don't have to be too on top of to make sure they're doing their jobs. I like it that she's motivated on her own. It's tough to find good employees sometimes and she is great!
 
The statement "you can always rent equipment" is not always true. Back in '87, I tried to rent a video camera for a job I'd gotten. I could not. The security deposit was like my entire annual salary at my last job. And I didn't have a credit card at the time, and could not get one--I'd just been through a bankruptcy the year before. Nowadays, nobody wants to extend credit to anyone with tax liens. Oh, and once you're deemed past the age of productive vitality, credit becomes even more scarce. So rentals are out for me. I had to bootstrap everything, buy the equipment piece by piece, saved my money for 22 years, and also liquidated a lot of my beloved vintage audio gear to finance my new video adventure.
Now if I stopped paying my property tax installments, electric bill and stopped eating, I might be able to pay a sales associate a small salary. But for now, it's out of the question.
A friend of mine tried really hard to talk me back into doing camera training courses again. I spent 90 minutes on the phone with him this evening. I told him that between writing my movie script, cataloging my footage for stock sales, and doing the renovation repairs on my home, I'm lucky I don't drop dead of a heart attack! But he did pursuade me to reconsider writing a course outline.
Meanwhile, I'll just have to crawl along with the job or two I get each year.
 
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