Stuck.

[mcbob]

If you can't stomach a little bitching and moaning, for your safety, do not continue.

If you're still reading, I'm just going to whine a little. About 4 years ago, I switched careers back into film and video after a ~12 year hiatus. Since then, I've been scraping, just barely paying bills and mortgages and so forth for my family of 5 through freelance work in ENG, doc, corp, science, and whatever else anyone will pay me to do (except for weddings, porn, and zombie movies). I work constantly, but usually in lower paying gigs because A) there aren't many high-paying gigs nearby, and B) I'm not skilled enough to demand top dollars. Despite applying for full-time work nationwide for three years, I've never gotten a single interview except for a job with local news that paid even less than I make freelancing. Time to actually practice shooting is minimal, most of my gigs demand such quick and dirty shooting that I can't compose anything I'm truly proud of, and I barely have enough time outside of work, wife, and kids to associate with any of the fairly substantial local filmmaking community. Those local people I do know are busy working their own asses off, and don't really have time or inclination to mentor or otherwise assist anyone in becoming their eventual competition.

I know I don't completely suck. Seasoned industry professionals have told me as much, for whatever their opinions are worth. I know I have a chance to move out of this rut, but no idea how or where. This is undoubtedly my passion and what I am going to do until I go blind or senile, but I'm getting tired, befuddled, and no longer see a clear upward path. I don't seem to be getting any better at what I'm doing, don't have the production knowledge or financial luxury to make personally-funded shorts or docs, and heck, don't even know where to begin because I barely ever work with anyone but myself and whoever the talent happens to be. Money is always an object, just getting worse between health insurance and gas costs, and I'd like to leave my kids with something at the end of my ride... either works, wealth, or wisdom...

So there's my general plea for validation and direction, and summary of a slump I'll probably pick myself up out of just like the previous several dozen...

 

[PopcornFlix]

Free advice is worth the price. That being said:

(1) Look for ways to leverage your knowledge and make passive income. (Not MLM, IP.) Write an ebook, and sell it on Amazon, or directly from your own website. Record teaching videos and either sell them on DVD or stream them from your website. The overriding concept is to invest a little time and money in creating a product from your expertise, then set it up so people can buy it without any additional work on your part.

Read The 4-hour work week for ideas about how to leverage your resources.

(2) Invest in yourself. Beg, borrow or steal an education. Get more qualified any way you can, then undercut the competition until you're established enough to raise your rates. When you invest in training, you make yourself more valuable. You can also leverage your training by teaching it to someone else for money, as previously mentioned.

(3) Look for customers who are used to paying more, and raise your rates. In every business, there's a top tier customer who is used to luxury and service. Upgrade your reel, buy a new suit, and go after those clients with a higher rate card. Focus on upscale clientele outside of the broadcast business. Look at companies that provide luxury goods and services, like resorts, real estate agencies, exclusive boutiques. they need video for their websites, and they want someone to make the hassle go away.

Good luck, and much success.