From Play to Profit

Brian Peterson
August 2008

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There's little better than doing what you love. Well, for some of us, there is: doing what you love and getting paid for it.

But how do you get that first paid job if you are just starting out? How do you make the right contacts? And how do you ensure you'll be getting future work?

First, ask yourself what kind of video production you want to do: corporate training, local broadcast, wedding and event, special interest or documentary. Look at the work you've done so far for fun and for friends. Do you currently have the kind of production tools that are appropriate for the job? You can get away with far less investment in equipment if you decide that you want to produce wedding and event videos rather than broadcast commercials.

Answering these questions will shape how you market yourself to potential clients.

Getting paid video production work requires you to do two things: meet lots of new business people and advise everyone you already know that you are looking for video production work. Of these two groups, the first is potentially the largest and most profitable. But the second already has the most important element ... a personal relationship. You must, however, gently "train" your friends and family to actually think of you when they hear about video production opportunities. This might sound strange, but friends and relatives often know you so well that they think right past you. Tell them specifically what kind of video production work you'd like to get and even how to become more aware of potential opportunities.

The most direct route to developing new business prospects is face-to-face. Start by joining your local Chamber of Commerce. Just about every town in America has one, and they are designed to support small business in your area. Local service groups, such as Kiwanis, Rotary and Soroptimist, are also good places to meet business people and give back a little to your community at the same time. Some areas even have pure networking groups, such as LeTip and Business Networking International, where the only purpose is to exchange qualified business leads.

There are also business networking groups that address the concerns of specific populations, such as the Hispanic, Black and Asian Chambers of Commerce. If you graduated from college, alumni groups can put you into contact with many people who are or soon will be involved in some sort of business. Of course, online networking is exploding at a rate that is difficult to measure. A search for the term business networking groups will give you more than 35 million results.

Lastly, get to know your competition. This might sound strange, but they can be an excellent source of new work. If they are busy on a given date, to whom are they going to refer the job?

"Don't advertise and no one will notice," the saying goes. But where should you spend your small advertising budget? More people are now using the internet than the Yellow Pages to locate local businesses. But does that mean you should skip this once-required advertising venue? Probably not. But it certainly means that you'd better have a website that does a great job promoting what you do.

Finding where a particular target audience is likely to see your message has always been a moving target. And just when you think you know where they are, someone moves the bull's-eye. In one sense, this is a good thing. You don't have to worry about focusing your marketing and advertising too narrowly, say on targeting just the "bosses." Frequently, in fact, the owner is not the real decision-maker. Especially with something like video production, the head honcho usually will delegate the research to staff members. They are the ones you want to reach and impress with your message.

Always be ready to sell yourself, either in person or by proxy, which includes advertising, marketing materials and even friends. What can you do better than someone with more experience? Are you more familiar with the subject matter? Can you provide the finished video faster? Are you willing to do it for less money? Any one of these factors can result in getting your first job. Just be careful not to over-promise and under-produce.

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