starting a business

[ThatOneJonGuy]

I've been slowly gathering the equipment I need to shoot and edit video and I'm thinking about the possibility of starting my own video production business on the side (The american dream, I know! ). I would like to focus on corporate/training videos and do weddings or events if necessary. The main problem I'm having with starting my business is how to market it; how to successfully get clients. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice specifically in this area. Thanks for any help!

-Jon

P.S. : I've done some short films and that's really all I have available for a demo reel.

 

[Shaw]

Starting a new company is always a tough situation to be in. Make a demo reel from your shorts and send them to people you think might need video work. That's probably the best way to get clients at this point. This way they know what you can do and what they can expect for their money. Even if its not much some is better than nothing!

Consider doing some work for free or very cheap. Once you have enough footage you can cut a reel and send it out =).

I'm in a similar position actually. I'm going to be delving into VFX and (paid) color grading (that't the idea at least) and so I'm working on building up my demo reel (mostly very short staged sequences to demonstrate an effect/look etc). We'll see if it works!

I (and I'm sure Jon) would love to hear from those who have successfully completed this stage before though. =)

 

[Barry_Green]

Simply put, nobody who doesn't know you will hire you if you're unproven. If you have a track record of five or six big companies that have hired you, then you're "in the game." Until then, you're going to have to rely heavily on people you've met to give you a break.

So -- who do you know? Think about work, church, bowling leagues, etc. Who do you know who owns their own business? Or, who do you know who works somewhere fairly big? Someplace big enough that they have an annual party, they have their own human resources department, etc. Those kind of places are great for training/corporate work. Get a personal recommendation (or know the owner, that's even better!) and do a killer job for them. Directly approach someone who's as high up as you can get, and ask them directly for the job.

Once you fill out a resume with a bunch of clients, and you've worked through enough jobs that you know what you're doing and know what your limitations are and that you will succeed, that's the time to start thinking about branching out and advertising and trying to attract clients on your merits, vs. on your personal connections...

 

[DarkMatter]

These guys are both very accurate, since you are thinking about doing corporate functions and weddings and don't have any practical experience doing either (trust me doing corporate & weddings are alot different than making short films) You only get one chance to get the shots with this type of work, if you screw it up and are getting paid the client has every right to come down on you hard. I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, but you should be aware of reprocussions. Definitley practice is in order and no one can get mad if your video sucks if they didn't pay you. As for advertising, you will be surprised at how many people will come up to you during breaks in shooting and ask you for a business card, THIS IS FREE ADVERTISING consider this a blessing and an opprotunity to promote yourself (make sure to bring lots of business cards for this purpose). Always be professional and curteous (even if you hate the s.o.b you are working for) this will bring word of mouth and repeat business. Once you have a healthy demo to work from and satisfied clients then it's time to get paid, and you will! Generally a fair price for work in this market i'm in is $100 an hour shooting With an established clientel and reputation $250 an hour is not out of the question (no indie movie will pay you that) You will have to make sacrifices in pay to be sure, but thats all in the name of business, and servicing the client (let's face it if you need the business and the client is thinking of going with joe shmo because he's a hundred dollars cheaper (even if joe shmo sucks) work with the client and get the business. Very important find and contact the catering director at the hotel or conference center and give them your business cards also (They will recommend you for free to several people you would never be able to contact on your own). When you have money to spend throw it into advertising, but in this type of business word of mouth will get you further. Take this into practice if you are still considering a career in this type of work, it's worth it's weight in gold.