Anyone have some good ideas on how to promote a video business. Starting out by word of mouth is kind of slow!! It's to late to put a ad in the phone book. Plus my budget is really tight. Any small business owners have some stories on how you got started?

What type of stuff do you want to do?
Weddings?
Corporate?
Adult?
Sports?

It all depends on what you want to do. Find your targeted clientel and market directly to them.

A simple "yellow pages" ad in the phone book can do wonders... sometimes it's all you need to get started.

I like the old fashion way of just getting out and meeting people. You will be suprised at what you can come up with. There are several good threads that are at the top of the Taking Care of Business forum. Take a few minutes and read through them.

As Dylan mentioned, it also depends on the market that you are going after. If you are looking to pick up extra work, contact all of the local production houses and see if they need a freelance camera guy.

There was a thread on here that Dylan posted, which dug into this.

Dylan - What was the topic?

I agree with Paul- Networking is how I got all of my work. I was in the same boat as you, no cash left over for proper advertising. Of course, that was also my downfall... or at least the beginning of the end. I still have most of my equipment, and hope to start again one day.
I wish you luck in the field.
Keith

Yellow Pages - Too expensive not enough return
Mailers Cheaper- Not enough return
TV/Radio- Ha! Sure!
Newspaper - See all of above
These are truisms in most major markets and since my ad buget was about A dollar three ninety eight, (it is still very low but not quite that bad) I did something I learned to do a lot of years ago. Talked to everyone I could. Always carry biz cards/flyers with me, always listen to what people are talking about and talk to them. In other words, NETWORK. Lots of work has come from someone who takled to someone who talked to someone ETC 4-5-10 people later. Months later! The best form of advertising is Word of Mouth. Let people know what you do and soon enough things start to happen. Spend what you have for advertising wisely.
Good Luck,
Don

I struggled for several years not advertising. I belonged to community groups, business associations, Chamber of Commerce you name it, trying to network. After several years of just getting by I decided to get a yellow pages ad. I didn't like spending the money, but I needed the phone to ring.

I committed to about $400 a month in advertising. It was a big gamble, but I deemed the risk necessary. Seven years later, when I sold my interest to my partners, the company had 17 employees and sales well in excess of $1,000,000. Now I'm not saying all the success was due to yellow pages advertising. But the phone started to ring a lot more often. When I left, my advertising budget was close to $50,000 a year. The biggest bulk of that ($35,000) was yellow pages.

Jeff

<<<-- Originally posted by Paul Sedillo : I like the old fashion way of just getting out and meeting people. You will be suprised at what you can come up with. There are several good threads that are at the top of the Taking Care of Business forum. Take a few minutes and read through them.

As Dylan mentioned, it also depends on the market that you are going after. If you are looking to pick up extra work, contact all of the local production houses and see if they need a freelance camera guy.

There was a thread on here that Dylan posted, which dug into this.

Dylan - What was the topic? -->>>

It was this one, I believe.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5882

I don't disagree that advertising is extremely important to business. All I am saying is that most folks starting out in business, especially if starting from home (I run 2 businesses from home, including my video business, and make a very good income from both so I'm not knocking home based) GENERALLY have a pretty small budget for advertising. I actually spend a fair amount on adv. today, but have found that a very big part of my biz has always been from word of mouth and referrals. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you need to put the money where it does the most good and I know that in the greater Chicagoland area, with 6 collar counties and a population of about 8 million or more, advertising in the yellow pages (which 1???, what area??? I shoot all over the area,) can be very cost prohibitive. Not too mention the fact that EVERYONE with a video camera can shoot 'your wedding for less than the other guy,' of course my favorite is "You paid how much? I could have gotten it done for you for a lot less than that!" but that's a whole different subject...Don't get me started!!!
Later,
Don

In my experience, the people who call on a yellow pages ad are just price shopping. It can get very annoying answering a bunch of lookie loos who aren't going to or who can't afford the service anyway. Find your target market and go right at them! If it's weddings, go to flowers shops, bridle shops, cake and caterers and anyone else involved in a wedding. That's your best "advertising-return" ratio.

Sorry I forgot to put down what I'm going to do. I've done some weddings mostly and plan to go into a few other areas. I just got my business cards which I'll start handing out. Maybe leave some in bridal shops etc,
A couple of you said to go to production houses and see if they could use some freelance help. You know I was thinking about that, but wasn't for sure if that was the kind of thing to do. But I'll sure try it.

The new local phonebook here won't be out until December, so for now that is out.

Thanks for the feedback.

<<<-- Originally posted by Zimvg304 : Sorry I forgot to put down what I'm going to do. I've done some weddings mostly and plan to go into a few other areas. I just got my business cards which I'll start handing out. Maybe leave some in bridal shops etc,
A couple of you said to go to production houses and see if they could use some freelance help. You know I was thinking about that, but wasn't for sure if that was the kind of thing to do. But I'll sure try it.

-->>>

I have a friend in Houston, who is one of the top wedding videographers around. He made it by getting involved with wedding shows. From what he says, these are the best way to generate new business. You should look into this in your local market.

Talk with the flower shops, DJ's, wedding dress shops, tuxedo rental houses, film photographers, etc. Meet these people and build a business relationship. Referals are a powerful thing. Getting to know these folks will pay off.

In our line, it's kind of different but it may help you with ideas......
Today our advertising budget is still next to zero! That may change once we finish our film.

We started out with zero budget with the exception of our cameras, and no plan to market our service since we were all about getting the job done, and having fun while we were at it regardless of the outcome.
I actually made our 1st set of business cards on my PC and printer, but we found out it was a lot cheaper to just get them done, and even with good printers and decent card stock they looked pretty "B league".

With a vision to shoot a film slated for DVD, we were out there on weekends making it happen......
It's amazing how many people approached us on our shoots to say "what the heck are you guys doing, whoa nice cameras".
Instant networking achieved.....we would pass out our cards, mention our website/email medium, tell them about our film, tell people what we would do that filled their needs (if they had one), the list goes on. We also made a point to mingle with the locals at their watering holes after-hours (it's amazing how much work we got out of this scenario).

It's also amazing how many people have told us "you guys are a lot nicer than the people that were here from ESPN" (no BS at all).
People remember us, they've already forgot the camera jockeys names/faces from ESPN/etc.

I had one guy who is a die hard local Beta cam dude & production house who is always giving me crap about using DV.....
I finally laid my cards on the table with him recently and showed him our reel.....the next thing you know we are one of 9 cameras(1 XL1s and 8 Beta's) shooting a upcoming race next month. Which proves......it's what you put in front of the camera, not behind it.

Which brings me to the point.........
It's all about customer service when building clientele;
-if someone calls you.....call them back immediately, and give them quality information
-don't over commit yourself so you can't deliver a quality product
-if something is wrong with your service, fix it now
-if something didn't meet their expectations, do what it takes to meet their needs
-go the extra mile for the paying customer, and encourage referrals
-if someone changes their mind in mid stream, let them know right then and there how much their change costs you AND them

We've currently got so much repeat and referral business, we *have* to pick and choose, or we need to sub some of the gigs out.
Right now we are refusing to sub out the extra gigs because we don't have the time to manage the vision and quality of others.

Hope something helped here..........

Well I can't really say much because I just do films as a hobby (although I have had some good jobs for my age: Team analysis videographer for US Olympics team, Special Olympics webcast camera, etc.) but I totally agree with the word of mouth. Getting out there with your camera also works well. I remember back in elementary school when I was filming my film that would eventually win the Film Festival people would walk by and say "Whoa, nice camera" and even now (I'm STILL in school and everyone knows me but most only for my films) a lot of people do that. In fact, one of my teachers offered me a job (I said "Well, it might cost you..." and her reply was something like "Sure")! Getting along with the customer helps a lot although it is hard when your tripod won't pan smoothly...anyway I'm going off topic and in general, I'd say ...Just take the advice that's already here!

Oh ****, I just realised this topic is 4 years old... ****!

A simple "yellow pages" ad in the phone book can do wonders... sometimes it's all you need to get started.
You know, I'd heard that, and that was my plan, but now there are two different Yellow Pages, the "Yellow Pages" and "Dex", plus a couple of mini phone book yellow pages. So come phone book time of year, we get about 4 or 5 phone books, anyone run into ths problem or have suggestions on which is the best one to put an ad in?

we get about 4 or 5 phone books... which is the best one to put an ad in?In my experience, the best one is whichever is biggest and / or most widely circulated.

Bob, I see you live in Illinois, I agree with the "networking" idea.

If you can get to Chicago check the event calander for the Chicago convention center. Make a demo and a flier that you can pass out at trade shows and Expos. There you'll be able to meet with sales and marketing reps from various companies and get your company name out there. Plus if you meet them in person 1st it makes it much easier on the call backs to try and get business.

Most take place on the weekends so on your free time you can try and get your business going.

You know, I'd heard that, and that was my plan, but now there are two different Yellow Pages, the "Yellow Pages" and "Dex", plus a couple of mini phone book yellow pages. So come phone book time of year, we get about 4 or 5 phone books, anyone run into ths problem or have suggestions on which is the best one to put an ad in?

At least in my area, I ran an ad in one book, it was a credit card ad, and then I had a text link in the major book. I got 0 from it. The lesson I learned? There are specific places for my prospects, which at this point are weddings, and the phone book isn't a biggy around here. At least in my experience. I would ask the phone people to provide you with some stats, or call may be a photographer in your area that is in the phone book and see how valuable the phone book has been for them. Just some ideas to save you that all important marketing dollar.

I know I've burned up a bunch on misguided marketing.

Bob, I see you live in Illinois, I agree with the "networking" idea.

If you can get to Chicago check the event calander for the Chicago convention center. Make a demo and a flier that you can pass out at trade shows and Expos. There you'll be able to meet with sales and marketing reps from various companies and get your company name out there. Plus if you meet them in person 1st it makes it much easier on the call backs to try and get business.

Most take place on the weekends so on your free time you can try and get your business going.

Actually the majority of conventions and seminars in Chicago take palce Monday thru Friday with very few taking place on weekends-except some of the consumer type shows. IE, golf shows, auto show, that type of thing.
As for going to the shows and expos and passing out your materials good luck with that. I do a lot of AV work in Chicago and I gotta tell you, first there is no convention center per say. If you mean McCormick place do not go there to pass out pituriture when there is an event there. The police in Chicago not to mention the union guys get very upset with people that do that. Second there are so many hotels in downtown and the surrounding burbs that run conventions and seminars it would be impossible to cover them all not to mention that most have in house AV departments that work with 2 maybe 3 very very large AV houses and they also get upset with folks that infringe on their territory. Lastly as a former member of the Chcago Convention and tourism bureau it is a somewhat close knit group that has a hard time taking new people in. I joined in hopes of picking up some smaller AV and shooting jobs which I did do a few but generally the conventions have this stuff planned out about a year in advance, so rather than fight it, I hooked up as a contractor with one of the largest AV houses in town.
Now having said all of that, it is not impossible to get work of that type in the greater Chicagoland area as a small company but I believe it would actually be a smarter move to either sub out to a larger AV house as a tech or go from 1 small company to another promoting yourself. Of course there is the local Chamber of Commerce or other business networking groups that can also be helpful.
Not being negative but I've been there done that and for the most part it really doesn't work that way in Chicago.
Don

There was a travel expo there a few years back, it was at the navy pier. Lots of Hotels selling vacations and so on to customers. I just took business cards and told the other hotels reps to take a look at the Hotel Derek Booth, for which I had done the video of their hotel. I wasn't infringing on anyone's territory, and I was never hasseled by anyone. So I was refering from experience when I made the suggestion.

I don't doubt what Don is saying, each place has it's own rules. But who's to stop you from going to whatever show it is and talking to the marketing/sales reps? Then afterwards you hand them a card, and call them a week later.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Look this is just a suggestion. Just like the Yellow pages ad, it works for some and not for others, you don't know unless you try.

Oh OK, the expos. Yeah those you can pretty much get away with but even those you got to be a bit careful. Most of the places in Chicago run closed shops and they can be real ornery about 'outsiders' coming in to 'solicit'.
However even though I'm old, I can still run pretty fast! ;-)

Don

Yeah, the expos are a good way to get your name out there and get your foot in the door with some businesses. Like I said use them to meet and greet and then when you do your call backs you can then send more information.

If you're just starting out my other bit of advice is to build a website, and put your demo on it. When you hand out your business cards you can just refer them to your website for your demo instead of handing out dvd's.

I use yahoo small business, $11.95 a month. A small price to pay for trying to promote your business.

Good luck.

My current and most successful marketing strategy to date includes videotaping, editing and streaming highlight videos of important local events for high-profile non-profit organizations and membership associations.

Ordinarily, these organizations couldn't afford or simply do not want to afford the luxury of having their events professionally videotaped and edited by a video production company. Understanding this delimna, we step in to fill the void by offering to videotape these events in exchange for sponsorship recognition. So, the win/win is that we provide a service that benefits the non-profit and our company is exposed to their particular target audience. When the video is complete, the non-profit can link to our website (LocalWebcastNetwork.com) directly from their website, emails or e-newsletters and can distribute a DVD version of the video to VIPs, donors and sponsors. (Our short commercial is at the beginning of every video we donate so every time the videos are watched, we get incredible exposure!) Finally, the organization is free to use the raw footage to produce PSAs, event promo spots, fundraising videos, etc.

The Win/Win/Win comes from the fact that we include other sponsors involved with the event in the finished video presentation. This showcases their involvement in local community activities and gives them the ability to share these videos with their customers and prospects. Giving the sponsors extra exposure also helps the non-profit secure their support for the following year. Plus, it opens more doors for us because these sponsors really appreciate the service we provide.

The overall impact of this civic marketing strategy works extremely well in helping us to generate new business leads, in strengthening our relationships with current customers and in converting several of our existing leads into customers.

How can you use this strategy to your advantage?

Think about the organizations that need support in your area. Could they benefit if you videotaped, edited and streamed their events? Would you benefit by having your commercial or logo animation put on the front of these videos for all to see? Are there other sponsors that support these events that would appreciate the added exposure you would provide for them? Would it benefit your business to build solid relationships with these other sponsors? Would sharing these videos with your customers and prospects help to strengthen these relationships?

If the answer to these questions is a resounding "Yes! Yes! Yes!," you need to get on the bandwagon. Regardless of whether you do this a few times a year or a few times a month, if you do it properly, you'll experience the Win/Win/Win results I described above.

This is definitely not your traditional marketing program but it has worked for us in a big way. A recent event we covered resulted in a $30,000 marketing video for a multinational company. Another event this year resulted in a $28,000 training video for a national retirement home community.

Good luck!

Kris Simmons
http://www.mindyourvideobusiness.com