In a downturn, the first thing many video producers and independent videographers cut is marketing. They stop advertising, they stop sending out demos and generally, they cut down on their promotional activities -if not eliminating them entirely.
This may sound like a logical thing to do, but it’s a dumb move.
And it’s exactly what a lot of your competitors are going to do -if they haven’t already done it -which gives you a terrific opportunity to gain new business.
To give you an extra boost in these difficult times, I’ve written a short, easy-to-read little guide to helping you maintain your business in tough economic times.
And I want you to have a free copy.
“Marketing Your Video Business Through A Downturn” will give you some common sense guidelines for stepping back, assessing your production business, and applying practical, low-cost tactics for stretching assets and marketing spending further -in the right directions -for a greater yield.
And it’ll show you some great ideas and techniques to add a little extra to your bottom line, too.
The last time I put out one of these recession-busting reports, I sold it for $19.95. This time around, it’s free. No charge, no obligation.
All I ask is that if you like it and it’s helpful to you, pass it along to a friend or two. You can give them the link to the download page or you can just send the .pdf book to them by email. Or burn it to a CD and flip it to them. And if you’re in a local video association, feel free to let your fellow videographers know it’s available.
Fair enough?
Thanks. As always, I wish you the best of success! And go get your free copy right here.
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Time to hit the Panic Button? Boy, I’m close. My well-organized schedule has turned into a moving target! In between the normal spring cleanup tasks and finishing up a new book and a new audio program, I’ve been trying to move my office into our home. Which means more time spent sifting through things to see what gets moved, what gets stored and what gets pitched. And then to top it off, Jenny -starting her third year of college -decides she is ready to vacate her bedroom at Casa del Yanqui-Wolfe…so it’s pandemonium around here. I recorded a half-hour audio program yesterday in the “home office,” then broke all the equipment down so Gayle could do her thing last night…then when I sat down to edit the program this morning, discovered I had left out a couple critical paragraphs, so I have to set everything up again, and hope I can match the levels.
Well, luckily the chaos will only last a couple more weeks, so bear with me.
But if my refrain is far too familiar a one, you might check into my Success Without Stress video on how to manage a successful home-based video business. Details here.
Chaos or no, tomorrow I’m releasing my brand new book, Marketing Your Video Business Through A Downturn, to my Weekly Video Tips readers and to readers of this here blog. Make sure you’re here tomorrow or are a subscriber to get your hands on this when it’s released; it’s a free resource that will help get you through the hard times we’re all experiencing.
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I recently got a few samples of the new Archival Century DVD Disc from Ross Allen at VA Media, which he claims is the only truly archival DVD available, “maximizing data life to 100 plus years.”
You might remember a couple years ago when Ross’s company were carrying LUX-PRO archival DVD - the one you could fingerprint up, scratch it up with steel wool, write on it with a pen -and it would still work?
It went a little against my grain to purposely deface a perfectly good disk, but I gave it my best shot. Fingerprints, scratches…”Boy,” I thought, “This one’s going to end up in Skip City!”
When I was finished ‘ruining’ the DVD-R, Ross slipped it into a DVD player. And to my amazement, it played perfectly. No skips, no stops, no signal breakup at all. That was my introduction to the LUX PRO “precision archival” DVD-R.
And the new Century Disc DVD is apparently even better.
My old partner Randy was one of those guys who never threw anything out. As a result, our production company had a lot of…well, interesting is a good word…interesting stuff cluttering up the place. Laser disc players, a couple of broken reel-to-reel 1/2″ VCR’s, some hopelessly antique cameras and camcorders…he had so much of this technojunk that we finally built him a large storage space -”Randy’s Room” -filled corner to corner with sturdy steel shelving. I was down at Great Lakes Video the other day and -guess what -even though he’s not with the operation any more, Randy’s Room remains, securely locked and apparently still loaded. Sort of like Al Capone’s vault. Who knows what treasures lurk inside?
Well, Randy isn’t alone. Old computers, camcorder, motherboards, broken audio boards and switchers, cell phones, CDs, jewel cases, old VHS tapes…we of the video production persuasion certainly can stack up the old equipment quickly.
As we move farther into the information age, the volume of obsolete computer equipment and supplies is becoming a serious problem that needs to be dealt with responsibly. Today, it’s estimated that over 90 percent of technojunk is not being recycled. Some is thrown away, but most remains unused sitting on desks or taking up storage space.
You know what I’m getting at; I’m asking you to recycle your old broken and outmoded gear. There may be a local drop-off that legitimately recycles your equipment. If so, why not make a stop there part of your spring cleaning ritual?
Alas, many communities don’t have a good recycling point. If this is your case, I recommend an operation such as GreenDisk. You can use them to recycle ‘puters, iPods, MP3 players, cell phones and chargers, digital cameras, PDAs, palm pilots, and more. Also, easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk’s Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees.
Daniel Rudd, a fellow Michigander and the founder of Stock20, tells me tomorrow and Wednesday is the production music production company’s “IRS Appreciation Sale.”
“There seem to be such positive feelings toward the IRS this time of year, we wanted to give our customers a way to celebrate, and maybe stretch whatever dollars they have left,” Daniel says, with tongue firmly in cheek.
“Actually, we found that our spring sales event last year made a lot of people happy and brought us some great exposure. We’re basically trading very generous discounts for the chance to impress some new customers with the quality of our product.”
Stock20’s library offers a wide variety of selections, featuring real instruments and fresh compositions. Of course, you can preview every track in its entirety before purchasing -and I think they have about 1200 trax now -along with a virtually unlimited and unending license. For details, visit www.Stock20.com
Share and Enjoy!These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
“Marketing Your Video Business Through A Downturn” will give you some common sense guidelines for stepping back, assessing your production business, and applying practical, low-cost tactics for stretching assets and marketing spending further -in the right directions -for a greater yield.
Time to hit the Panic Button? Boy, I’m close. My well-organized schedule has turned into a moving target! In between the normal spring cleanup tasks and finishing up a new book and a new audio program, I’ve been trying to move my office into our home. Which means more time spent sifting through things to see what gets moved, what gets stored and what gets pitched. And then to top it off, Jenny -starting her third year of college -decides she is ready to vacate her bedroom at Casa del Yanqui-Wolfe…so it’s pandemonium around here. I recorded a half-hour audio program yesterday in the “home office,” then broke all the equipment down so Gayle could do her thing last night…then when I sat down to edit the program this morning, discovered I had left out a couple critical paragraphs, so I have to set everything up again, and hope I can match the levels.
As we move farther into the information age, the volume of obsolete computer equipment and supplies is becoming a serious problem that needs to be dealt with responsibly. Today, it’s estimated that over 90 percent of technojunk is not being recycled. Some is thrown away, but most remains unused sitting on desks or taking up storage space.
