I watched this entire video assuming that it had already gotten over 100k views. Your advice deserves to be heard. Great content and thank you for sharing.
Wow. Thank you so much! As a small RU-vid channel owner this means the world to me. I am putting a lot of effort into it, but mostly just want people to benefit from my experiences. It's taken me some time to figure out what my niche should be, but with the filmmaking topic being super saturated I have realised that the business part of it might be the way to go. Thanks for watching, and thanks for your comment!
thanks for watching! It's a very good question. I think that the best way for me has been the networking. Not just in terms of going to events and such, but talking to people. I am curious about other people, and I believe that by being curious, people will be curious about you too. And so if you can make people curious about you, and at the same time be kind, I think people would like to work with you. This doesn't fully answer your question, so there are some more things to this. One, you can take the photos you took in a certain situation, share them with the ones in it and ask them to give you credit. This is always a long shot. I have worked with people with millions of followers, and it didn't do much when they tagged me/gave me credit for the work. Then there are other situations where a person with a few hundred followers generated jobs. Honestly, and this might sound stupid, you can bring a camera (the bigger rig the better) down to the city. People might actually approach you (this might be more of an US thing). I saw this guy walking down the streets with his camera, and what do you know, a guy called him up and asked him to be a wedding photographer that SAME day. Their photographer bailed last minute. Have coffee with people. Try to get a coffee with no commitment to anything but that talk. Then, and I guess this might be my best tips and the way I approached this in the beginning. Go to events and happenings with the purpose of making content for yourself. This is a great way to learn how to make content for clients, but also a great way to advertise yourself. With you owning all of the rights and having all the creativity, you can offer whoever you filmed to use this themselves. It's important to note that this is not the same as doing work for free. Nobody asked you to make it for them, they don't have a say in how you made it and you can do whatever you want with it. But they can use it, and if they like it they might buy it later. Or maybe you can even make some money on this exact project on the first try. And if ANY brand uses your services in ANY way, they are by definition a client of yours. Use that for what it's worth in communication, on your website and so on. I remember having Sony Music on my website for years, and they only paid me $200 dollars for a full music video production. I should NOT have done the job for that price, but it was six months after I bought my first camera and it was SONY! I think being able to communicate that I had worked for Sony was a big deal for a lot of the clients I got later on, and it was nice to be able to have their logo on my website. Lastly I have had success with cold calls or cold emails. Reach out (it's usually better to call) and tell them about your services. The best way is to approach them with the problem you see they have ("I see that your content looks old or lacks high quality) and then come up with the solution (which is you). At the end of the day I think advertising yourself or your products comes down to how you communicate it. If it's with confidence, an attitude of "I have a lot of projects going on" and kindness, I think things will go your way. But REMEMBER! Things take time. I sent 50 emails to different companies in 2020, getting a reply from three of them. I was close to giving up, as I didn't make a single dime between February and December that year. Then I had my first six figure year in 2021. Hope this helps!
Dude, love this vide. I've worked many years in video production and with marketing agencies creating ads in Los Angeles. I've worked with many established brands BUT I feel stuck because I lack the business aspect of the filmmaking world, and referrals only get me so far. I haven't been able to break 75k a year. Do you feel a healthy approach to extending more clients can be Ads on social media? such as Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin since we are B2B?
First of all, thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Honestly, I am not sure how well that works. Personally, I have not had good experiences doing that, but I am sure it works for some people. I have experienced that with services like filmmaking or photography being promoted/sponsored on social media, it almost creates a sense of desperation. Just because it tells potential clients "Hey, I don't have enough work" lol It sounds like you already got clients and that you have a revenue that is decent already? If so, I would look at how to use the foundation you have to grow your business even more. I believe that by communicating and almost pitching a new and bigger project when you are working with them, chances are you'll end up getting just that. Sometimes I might casually mention new ideas on a shoot and if I have a solid foundation with them, they'll trust my ideas. It's important to remember that these ideas must be genuine and not come off as "I am going to sell you something" as that will shine through very easily. I genuinely believe in the ideas I am pitching, and I believe it will benefit the client. That's what you need to communicate too. So in short, connect with your current clients, make them see that they can trust you, make them see you are worth it and adjust your prices 1-2 a year. With the financial state being what it is, I have realized I need to adjust the prices to the expenses I have in my life/business. And another thing to keep in mind is that if your client has a partner at the shoot, make sure they will remember you too! I hope this helps!
