Making Money With Your Camcorder

Ever thought about turning your video expertise into cash?

You don't need a closet full of expensive gear. You don't need an MBA either. You just need to make a good video for someone who'll pay for it.

Sounds simple enough. But where do you find customers?

Fortunately, that part is easier now than ever. More and more, ordinary people think video when they want to get a message out or record an event. Your skills and interests can help speed your search.

In the next few pages, you'll learn about popular video markets that exist in nearly every city. You'll also find ideas on how to use your interests and hobbies to carve a profitable video niche of your own.

Whether you tap a traditional market or forge a brand new one, now is a great time to get a little money back on your video investment.

The Wedding Video Biz
Wedding videography is the most common of the new video markets. For years, still photographers have counted on extra income from shooting weddings. Now scores of videomakers do the same. In fact, video has quickly become a key part of recording and preserving the marriage ceremony. As long as couples continue to marry, the wedding video industry will continue to thrive.

The easiest way to start making wedding videos is to practice taping one for a friend or family member. You might not get paid, but the process will teach you what it takes to tape a wedding. You'll learn if it's work you'd like to do. Plus, you'll have a sample project to show your first paying customer.

If you decide weddings are your gig, take time to develop a unique approach to taping them. Competition is heavy in the wedding video biz. You need to set yourself apart.

Create a hook, something only you provide that will draw people to you instead of everyone else. Use your competitors as inspiration. If a competitor doesn't do something, consider doing it in your work. Perhaps it's something as simple as using wireless mikes, or as complex as major league post-production.

Make that hook your "videosignature." Be the only one to provide a certain look or style, and customers will come to you for exactly that.

Once you've got your style, promote the heck out of it. Post business cards and flyers at churches, bridal and tuxedo shops, and bridal fairs and shows. These are popular, effective ways to spread the news about your business. (They're also good places to get more info on your competition.)

But getting the work takes more than advertising in well-traveled places, especially in a market as competitive as wedding videography.

Try meeting with bridal consultants. Form alliances with them. Consider offering a small percentage of what you make on a project in exchange for referrals. Let them know you do something unique as a wedding videographer. Perhaps even leave a sample tape with them.

Once you make contact, stay in contact. Noisy videomakers are often the ones who get the work.

The Legal World
The legal industry also provides lucrative opportunities for aspiring videomakers. Recording depositions has become almost as popular and dependable as taping weddings.

At a deposition, attorneys for the prosecution and defense in a legal case meet to ask questions of witnesses. Recording these discussions on video helps everyone involved in the legal process.

With video depositions, a witness can appear before a judge or jury without taking time off work, or traveling a long way to court. Lawyers can count on testimony regardless of a witness's work schedule, place of residence, or state of health. Taxpayers also benefit because video depositions help speed the trial process in many courtrooms.

Another possible market in the legal world is the "dayinthelife" video, where you chronicle the daily lives of negligence victims or insurance claimants suspected of fraud.

Breaking into the legal video market is tough. Setting yourself apart from others isn't easy. Lawyers typically don't want someone with a unique, creative approach to the work.

Instead, lawyers want deposition videographers to essentially disappear during the taping. They don't want someone who'll disturb the event with constant technical or aesthetic adjustments. They only want someone to record it.

That doesn't mean they don't want technical excellence. They're quick to spot bad camera work or tinny, distant audio. You've got to know how to get the best from your gear with a minimum of tweaking--even in the worst conditions.

Knowledge of the legal process is certainly a point in your favor. If you find the legal process and its intricacies fascinating, legal video may be your niche.

In your marketing efforts, stress dependability. Tell potential clients that you'll show up prepared and on time, and that they'll walk away with an excellent video.

Making Money in School
If you want something more creative, try taping a school event, like a basketball game or a class play. Many parents and students are willing to pay for videos because they bring back sights and sounds that trophies and yearbooks can't.

The key to making a school video marketable is to include as many of the participants as possible.

For example, the fathers of two high school tennis players found a way to make highlight footage generate money for the team. They taped parts of every match played during the season, along with footage of a few practices. This wasn't too tough; they were already there taping matches featuring their sons.

At the season's end, they edited the best clips onto one tape, and asked the coach to narrate the finished video. He added comments about each player and funny anecdotes from the season. They previewed the tape at the awards banquet and sold copies to nearly all the players and their parents. They contributed a healthy chunk of money to the team fund and still had plenty of footage of their kids.

Class reunion videos have also become popular in recent years. Attendees enjoy keeping a record of their re-acquaintance with old friends and the school.

Get old photos from the school archives and library to spice up the video. If you interview an attendee, use a shot of their yearbook photo somewhere during the segment to show how they've changed. As with any school project, get footage of as many people as possible.

If you're taping a reunion, ask the organizing committee to mention your tape in announcements and invitations. You can help make on-the-spot sales by setting up a booth at the reunion where people can order copies.

The Industrial Market
With today's better camcorders and editing VCRs, many videomakers are breaking into corporate and industrial video. The big companies often spend lots of money on video projects because they the want best gear and talent to maintain their image. Despite the improved technology, these customers may still be out of your league.

Look instead to smaller companies. Find folks who need video programming but can't afford to spend thousands per finished minute on the production. You might even have a good potential video application at your regular job.

Meetings, seminars and roundtable discussions are great first projects. A basic camcorder and tripod are usually adequate to record the video. You might need a microphone or two to get good sound, depending on the situation.

Videos that teach employees to operate a particular machine, deal with difficult customers or fill out forms are also common projects for many small companies. You'll need more equipment to do these effectively.

Lighting equipment will improve the look of your shots. A second VCR designed for editing will let you control the pace of the video. Use a titler to stress the important points by putting text on the screen.

Impressing corporate clients, however, requires more than just good equipment. Do your best to understand the material they want to present. If you understand both medium and message, you'll provide a video that meets or exceeds their expectations.

The Perfect Market for You
The popular markets attract videomakers because they're chock full of an element critical to any successful business: customers.

Be warned, however. Where customers abound, so do competitors. Success may not come as quickly or be as rewarding in these popular areas.

You can get ahead of competition by finding a new market of your own. Blur the line between videomaker and entrepreneur and create a niche that specifically suits your interests and equipment.

For example: if you play golf or tennis, consider starting a stroke analysis service. Video is an excellent tool for improving performance in almost any sport. Offer customers the analysis as part of their regular lesson, or as a separate service. Team up with a local teaching pro to help track down potential customers. Pique the pro's interest by offering a small percentage of what you make from each customer he refers.

To find your niche, study how other popular markets, like wedding videography, became successful. The results will help you discover your own way to make money using your camcorder.

A wedding is a good model of an ideal video niche. Despite a relatively small audience, everyone at a wedding is interested in preserving the emotions that inevitably charge the moment. Wedding video pioneers knew that in the hands of a talented person, video captures that better than anything else. More importantly, they bet that a video could translate into dollars. They we're obviously right.

The market also succeeded because unlike commercial or broadcast video, technical quality wasn't as critical in wedding videos. This was great for both videomakers and the consumers, because equipment cost was fairly low and so was the cost of the end product.

You must clear these hurdles when cutting a video niche of your own. You need an audience interested enough in preserving an experience to either pay you to record it, or buy your recording of it.

In some markets, you might be part of the potential audience. The parents who taped the tennis matches are an excellent example. Since they were essentially one of the potential customers, they knew what other parents and players would like to see in a highlight tape. That gave them insight about how to put together the finished tape.

In other markets, however, you're simply an observer recording the event for someone else. Weddings, sports events and legal depositions are good examples.

In these situations, it's very important to put yourself in the audience's position. Imagine how a video might best let them relive an event. Decide what they'd most like to see and hear, and do your best to give that to them.

If you're not sure what they want, ask. Give them what they expect (or more) and they'll advertise for you.

Keep your skill and equipment level in mind when searching for a niche. A basic camcorder probably isn't enough to produce training or sales videos for businesses. Those markets require additional equipment you may not have. Instead, you could try recording events, meetings and seminars.

If you're just starting out with your camcorder, don't go after the projects that might require more creative camerawork or editing expertise.

Guerrilla Marketing
The purpose of marketing is to make people think of you when they need a product or service. The best way to do that in the videomaking industry is with referrals from happy clients, or with a tape of samples from projects you've done.

If you're considering one of the popular markets as your first venture, remember the key to survival is to stand out from the crowd. You'll only make your job more difficult if you market yourself as a plain-vanilla videographer.

Flip through your local yellow pages to learn who's doing what with video in your town. Survey your competitors to find out what they do and don't offer. If you can go one notch better without spending a fortune on equipment, do it.

Also, remember that creative use of technology is always what separates busy videographers from hungry ones. Find unique ways to use what toys you already have before you buy more. Experiment with simple elements like lighting or audio to find something to set you apart from the pack.

Surveying competitors is also a good way to decide what to charge for your services. Prices for various projects vary widely from city to city. Research what typical customers pay, and what they get for their money. Use that as a reference in setting your own rates.

Don't assume lower prices will attract customers. Often this draws people who want an expensive video but aren't able or willing to pay for it. Let your skills attract your customers, and charge them appropriately.

You also need to separate yourself from the hordes of people who already own camcorders. Show potential customers they get more from you than by doing it themselves or asking a neighbor. If they can get a nearly identical video for little or no money, there isn't much incentive to hire you.

What to Expect
While making videos may be your ticket to fame and fortune, it's best not to bet your house on it. Don't expect to make enough money to support you, at least not yet. Businesses need time to grow, and video is no exception.

The video business operates in cycles, with alternating periods of frightening quiet and complete production chaos. Get used to it. Better yet, plan for it. It's the nature of the biz and if you're caught unprepared, it can leave you financially strapped.

If you make enough money to pay for your equipment, you're doing very well. It's easy to get discouraged, however, when you're not making enough to cover your time, let alone your gear. Be patient. The best way to maintain morale is to work on something you like.

Above all, making videos should be fun, whether you make money or not. As soon as using your camcorder stops being fun, its value drops. You're less likely to use it for the real reason you bought it: recording moments in your own life.

So take time to discover some ways you might be able to generate a little extra money. Remember the golden rule in business: always please your customers.

Do that, and your camera case may soon be lined with green.

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Sidebar 1: Proceed With Caution

One word describes the best way to approach the business end of making money with your camcorder: carefully.

Although it grows by leaps every year, the video industry doesn't guarantee any success. Approach it with a watchful eye.

The rules that help big businesses grow should help your video business do the same. Here are some hints.

Don't invest lots of money in equipment. It's bad business sense, and unnecessary for most of the work you'll do. A basic camcorder and tripod are enough to get you started on a number of small but profitable video projects. Buying equipment you don't need is a sure-fire way to get yourself in financial trouble very quickly. Use what you have, and wait until you land a big project to buy more equipment.

Be professional. Dress appropriately for the event or location you're shooting. Don't show up late or unprepared. Know your gear inside and out. Bring spares of anything you can: batteries, tapes, light bulbs. Always have a backup plan in case something goes wrong.

Don't hand over a finished tape until you've been paid. Even though the budgets on these projects seem small to you, they're big money to the folks who pay for them.

Set a professional payment plan up front with your clients, and make them stick to it. For example, make them pay half the day you arrive to shoot, the rest when the tape is finished. You can buy pre-printed project contracts at office supply stores. Modify them to fit your specific needs. The bottom line: no money, no video.

Avoid fancy advertising. Since you probably don't have lots of money for traditional advertising, you'll depend on word-of-mouth for promotion. It may be the slowest way to generate new clients, but it's also the most effective. Referred customers are often your most loyal clients. Treat them well, and they'll multiply. You can help stimulate referrals by asking for letters of recommendation from satisfied clients.

Make personal contacts. Anyone can pick up a phone and make calls, or send a brochure. Go the extra step and make a personal contact. Meet people in the business community whenever you can. Non-profit functions, Chamber of Commerce meetings, city government meetings and public events are all great places to schmooze and talk business. You never know when you'll find someone with a situation perfect for video.

Provide a product you would pay money to own. If you won't pay for it, neither should your customers.

Please your customers. A satisfied client may tell two or three other people about you, but a dissatisfied one will likely tell ten.

Keep your clients happy, and they'll keep you busy.

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Sidebar 2: Gear You Do and Don't Need

The urge to buy equipment is difficult for many videomakers to avoid. The illusion that all you need to get customers is nifty gadget A or slick gizmo B is all too common.

The problem is that as soon as you get the new toy, another one pops up. Whether or not it's a sinister industry plot to take your money isn't the point. The point is you don't need loads of gear to make a buck making video.

Here's a quick list of essentials you need to get started, and some rules for upgrading or adding to your production rig.

You might assume you need a camcorder. Actually, it's not required. Many videomakers rent camcorders and tripods on an as-needed basis. This lets other companies carry the financial burden of staying on top of technology. You get to use it to make money.

If you do own the camera, a tripod is essential. Nothing says "rookie videographer" like shaky video. Good tripods come in all shapes, sizes and prices. Find one appropriate for your niche.

Headphones are a must. They will prove invaluable in finding out just how your audio sounds on tape. And they will alert you immediately to any dead cables, noises or other sound problems.

You can probably find a good microphone cheap enough for almost anyone to own. If you do weddings, depositions, or other videos where freedom from cables may be an asset, consider wireless mikes.

Filters are an inexpensive way to make better images. Some give an artsy look. Others correct lighting and color balance problems.

Basic lighting gear and an assortment of reflectors can improve the video you shoot on location. It also is a great way to develop a look that sets you apart.

Wedding video veterans know that packaging a video can make or break a sale. It may not add much to the video itself, but it helps the perceived value if your final tape comes packaged in a nice case with professional-looking labels.

If you find loads of competitors in your market, consider buying a unique piece of gear to separate yourself. A good titler or special effects generator, for example, can give you a tremendous advantage over your competition.

Remember to focus on creative visualization and production skills, not the technical toys. The best camera or the latest gadget will never guarantee even one day of work. Unless you can prove that piece of gear is absolutely necessary on a project, it's no better than the lesser one. And chances are you can make the lesser piece do an acceptable job.

It's not what you own, it's how you use it.