Blog Video at DVinfo.net

Blog Video · February 18th, 2016, 03:23 PM

I wrote, shot, and edited this in a few hours the other day. I welcome and appreciate any feedback/criticism. Thank you in advance.

David Barnett · February 18th, 2016, 06:18 PM

It's well made, but I don't agree with alot of the points being made.

#9 - If they don't pay, I don't book. I'll usually respond telling them I'll save the date for about 2 weeks, after that it's open again if a deposit isn't received or at least some sort of assurance they wish to continue keeping the date booked. I don't feel the onus is on them to respond to every vendor they are NOT choosing.

#7 - I suppose a save the date would be nice, I'm not sure I would advise they send them to me tho.

#4 - I'm not sure it's necessary they inform their guests there will be a videog. I'd guess roughly 50% might have them, so I think it's almost expected. If you're a big team of 3-4 shooters them maybe, but a solo shooter or tandem I think it's fine.

#3 - I would not ask a bride to 'Think about the lighting'

#2 - Food - I have it in my contract that I'm to be fed but I don't make a big stink about it. I've found most venue locations are willing to feed me. It's really nice when they're proactive about it and tell me where & when I'll be fed, but that's up to the venue & not the couple.

I also think it would just be better off as a blog post. I don't think many couples would sit there & watch an 8 minute video on how to make their wedding video better. Good marketing piece I suppose, that shows your interested in the field. I'm just not sure how effective it is in that regard & could be a bit of a turnoff.

Steven Davis · February 18th, 2016, 09:01 PM

I agree with David a bit on making it blog post. Maybe have both the video and bullet list.

As for the listing, lighting is not something I think couples are gonna be bothered with unless you tell them face to face. I'm not sure I'd make food number 2, maybe much lower.

I applaud your effort on the video, it has a lot of good information. I do think you should trim it down to top 5 and really put in the important ones, then as David said, make it a blog post as well so they can copy and paste it, email it etc.

Corey Graham · February 19th, 2016, 04:27 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys. I know you'll disagree with some points, but they're 100% valid in my 20 years of experience in my market, and I talk with my clients about all of these things at some point.

And I guess I should have added that this is much more of a marketing piece than an informational one.

Noa Put · February 19th, 2016, 04:48 AM

Great video but a bit on the long side, not sure of your clients are going to sit through these 8 minutes, just like with editing I think you could even more summarize every point to eventually shave of a few more minutes.

Some of my remarks:

10. I don't see the problem of not having enough time to cover the details, there is plenty of time, my prep time consist of asking for a planning, take 30 minutes to go over it and then one week prior to the wedding call the client and again 30 minutes to discuss the planning and that's it.
As I see it is they have to book early because you can only accept one wedding per weekend, if you are their first choice the main reason to book early is to make sure they can book you.

9. Same as David mention, I think we just need to make clear that as long as we have no signed contract or deposit we don't secure the date, I tell them I will save the date for them for 2 weeks and send them a reminder after that, if they don't react then fine the date is open again. If I get another request for the same date during those 2 weeks I will email them telling they need to decide within 2 days, I will tell the new couple the same thing that I have a running but not confirmed request but that they will hear from me in 2 days if I"m still available or not. I don't want to waste any time running behind couples and risk losing both booking requests.

5. There is nothing wrong in asking the couple to inform all vendors there is going to be a videographer present but I don't see any advantage in that, my experience is that you will be on your own that day, every vendor has its own agenda and they will not make special preparations just because they know a weddingvideographer will be present. It's up to you to talk to anyone that day that might have an impact on your weddingvideo, like talk to the photog in the morning and try to get along or talk to the dj and ask nicely if he can give you a feed or add some white light during the dancing.

4. Same for informing guests, they won't act naturally if they know in advance you are there, if you want natural shots then use a telelens and hide behind a tree. :) They also will not hide their smartphones, not going to happen. The only way to prevent that would be if the bride at the beginning of a ceremony would take the mike and tell the guests not to f*ck up her video with their smartphones.

3. I also hate pitch black venues but then I"d either get a camera like a a7s or put a light on top of my camera, if the light would bother people, too bad. There is one particular venue that uses red led light only during the first dance, eventhough they have other colored light. I have asked the venue if they could add a bit of white light but they refuse, if I show the bride how ugly they look on film in red I have had success in asking the bride to ask the venue to add white light during the first dance but that is as far as I go, I can't discuss light intensity because it's difficult to explain what is light enough or not, maybe she wants to create a certain mood, maybe she likes candle lit weddings only, maybe she even likes red light during the first dance, it's her wedding in the first place, not mine so I go along if I can't change anything.

2. I tell the couple when we meet that food in the venue is not an obligation but always appreciated but if I am not getting anything that I will go out to a restaurant in the evening to get a decent meal and that I will be absent for an hour or 2, never in 10 years have I not been fed :)

I think all your points are valid but I also think it's naive to expect that just by informing your couples it will improve anything, in most cases it won't, but it's good that you inform your clients about it, what would work better is if you could also show examples of what could go wrong, like people blocking your view with their smartphones or how your footage looks like when they turn all the lights out, but I"m not sure if you want your client to see that. :)

Corey Graham · February 19th, 2016, 08:13 AM

Thanks Noa! My goal for this video (and many more "top 10" videos I have planned) is not to inform or try to change anything -- it's purely for marketing. I want potential clients to see and hear me -- as I've been told I come across very warm and friendly -- and to see that I'm very capable and knowledgeable. I'm building trust and confidence.

Steven Davis · February 19th, 2016, 08:34 AM

One major thing this helps with is covering yourself for those clients who want to blame other for their poor planning. We can try and help clients till we are blue in the face, but some refuse to plan well. So providing them this video will cover you and they won't be able to say later, you didn't talk to me or I didn't know about 'x'.

Much of what you have in the video, we have in our planning sheets which we give to all our clients.. They fill it out, so they know what we are looking and asking for. If not there, we have several blog posts that have examples of what we are talking about on our blog.

I applaud your effort.

Chris Harding · February 19th, 2016, 09:36 PM

Hi Corey

Hmm that's an aspect that I never thought about! It is a chance for brides to see you are a nice guy before they book you. As others have said, most of us will talk to the bride about possible issue but remember that on the actual day, what you have told them will just fly out the window anyway! In the last 15 years I have had only one wedding where we had to get take out after the wedding ...the usual approach is "we are going to working hard all day at your wedding so a meal is always appreciated"

It's a great video and good self promotion!! Now how about doing a promo about "why you should have video at your wedding" and toss in a few facts from WEVA about 90% of brides regret not having a wedding video etc etc .... you could even find a couple who could do a few testimonials or a couple that didn't get a wedding video and was sorry they didn't.

I think you would handle a video like that very well and again it would promote yourself too!!

Steven Davis · February 20th, 2016, 10:19 AM

Lol, today I googled "90% of brides regret not getting video" and your video/this post was like number 4 in the google listing.

Figured you'd want to know.

February 19th, 2016, 04:48 AM	#5
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Blog Video Great video but a bit on the long side, not sure of your clients are going to sit through these 8 minutes, just like with editing I think you could even more summarize every point to eventually shave of a few more minutes. Some of my remarks: 10. I don't see the problem of not having enough time to cover the details, there is plenty of time, my prep time consist of asking for a planning, take 30 minutes to go over it and then one week prior to the wedding call the client and again 30 minutes to discuss the planning and that's it. As I see it is they have to book early because you can only accept one wedding per weekend, if you are their first choice the main reason to book early is to make sure they can book you. 9. Same as David mention, I think we just need to make clear that as long as we have no signed contract or deposit we don't secure the date, I tell them I will save the date for them for 2 weeks and send them a reminder after that, if they don't react then fine the date is open again. If I get another request for the same date during those 2 weeks I will email them telling they need to decide within 2 days, I will tell the new couple the same thing that I have a running but not confirmed request but that they will hear from me in 2 days if I"m still available or not. I don't want to waste any time running behind couples and risk losing both booking requests. 5. There is nothing wrong in asking the couple to inform all vendors there is going to be a videographer present but I don't see any advantage in that, my experience is that you will be on your own that day, every vendor has its own agenda and they will not make special preparations just because they know a weddingvideographer will be present. It's up to you to talk to anyone that day that might have an impact on your weddingvideo, like talk to the photog in the morning and try to get along or talk to the dj and ask nicely if he can give you a feed or add some white light during the dancing. 4. Same for informing guests, they won't act naturally if they know in advance you are there, if you want natural shots then use a telelens and hide behind a tree. :) They also will not hide their smartphones, not going to happen. The only way to prevent that would be if the bride at the beginning of a ceremony would take the mike and tell the guests not to f*ck up her video with their smartphones. 3. I also hate pitch black venues but then I"d either get a camera like a a7s or put a light on top of my camera, if the light would bother people, too bad. There is one particular venue that uses red led light only during the first dance, eventhough they have other colored light. I have asked the venue if they could add a bit of white light but they refuse, if I show the bride how ugly they look on film in red I have had success in asking the bride to ask the venue to add white light during the first dance but that is as far as I go, I can't discuss light intensity because it's difficult to explain what is light enough or not, maybe she wants to create a certain mood, maybe she likes candle lit weddings only, maybe she even likes red light during the first dance, it's her wedding in the first place, not mine so I go along if I can't change anything. 2. I tell the couple when we meet that food in the venue is not an obligation but always appreciated but if I am not getting anything that I will go out to a restaurant in the evening to get a decent meal and that I will be absent for an hour or 2, never in 10 years have I not been fed :) I think all your points are valid but I also think it's naive to expect that just by informing your couples it will improve anything, in most cases it won't, but it's good that you inform your clients about it, what would work better is if you could also show examples of what could go wrong, like people blocking your view with their smartphones or how your footage looks like when they turn all the lights out, but I"m not sure if you want your client to see that. :)

February 19th, 2016, 08:13 AM	#6
Corey Graham Major Player Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Erie, PA Posts: 390	Re: Blog Video Thanks Noa! My goal for this video (and many more "top 10" videos I have planned) is not to inform or try to change anything -- it's purely for marketing. I want potential clients to see and hear me -- as I've been told I come across very warm and friendly -- and to see that I'm very capable and knowledgeable. I'm building trust and confidence. __________________ http://coreygraham.me http://coreygrahamweddings.com

February 19th, 2016, 09:36 PM	#8
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Blog Video Hi Corey Hmm that's an aspect that I never thought about! It is a chance for brides to see you are a nice guy before they book you. As others have said, most of us will talk to the bride about possible issue but remember that on the actual day, what you have told them will just fly out the window anyway! In the last 15 years I have had only one wedding where we had to get take out after the wedding ...the usual approach is "we are going to working hard all day at your wedding so a meal is always appreciated" It's a great video and good self promotion!! Now how about doing a promo about "why you should have video at your wedding" and toss in a few facts from WEVA about 90% of brides regret not having a wedding video etc etc .... you could even find a couple who could do a few testimonials or a couple that didn't get a wedding video and was sorry they didn't. I think you would handle a video like that very well and again it would promote yourself too!!

February 18th, 2016, 06:18 PM	#2
David Barnett Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly, PA Posts: 951	Re: Blog Video It's well made, but I don't agree with alot of the points being made. #9 - If they don't pay, I don't book. I'll usually respond telling them I'll save the date for about 2 weeks, after that it's open again if a deposit isn't received or at least some sort of assurance they wish to continue keeping the date booked. I don't feel the onus is on them to respond to every vendor they are NOT choosing. #7 - I suppose a save the date would be nice, I'm not sure I would advise they send them to me tho. #4 - I'm not sure it's necessary they inform their guests there will be a videog. I'd guess roughly 50% might have them, so I think it's almost expected. If you're a big team of 3-4 shooters them maybe, but a solo shooter or tandem I think it's fine. #3 - I would not ask a bride to 'Think about the lighting' #2 - Food - I have it in my contract that I'm to be fed but I don't make a big stink about it. I've found most venue locations are willing to feed me. It's really nice when they're proactive about it and tell me where & when I'll be fed, but that's up to the venue & not the couple. I also think it would just be better off as a blog post. I don't think many couples would sit there & watch an 8 minute video on how to make their wedding video better. Good marketing piece I suppose, that shows your interested in the field. I'm just not sure how effective it is in that regard & could be a bit of a turnoff.

February 18th, 2016, 09:01 PM	#3
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Re: Blog Video I agree with David a bit on making it blog post. Maybe have both the video and bullet list. As for the listing, lighting is not something I think couples are gonna be bothered with unless you tell them face to face. I'm not sure I'd make food number 2, maybe much lower. I applaud your effort on the video, it has a lot of good information. I do think you should trim it down to top 5 and really put in the important ones, then as David said, make it a blog post as well so they can copy and paste it, email it etc. __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

February 19th, 2016, 04:27 AM	#4
Corey Graham Major Player Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Erie, PA Posts: 390	Re: Blog Video Thanks for the feedback guys. I know you'll disagree with some points, but they're 100% valid in my 20 years of experience in my market, and I talk with my clients about all of these things at some point. And I guess I should have added that this is much more of a marketing piece than an informational one. __________________ http://coreygraham.me http://coreygrahamweddings.com

February 19th, 2016, 08:34 AM	#7
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Re: Blog Video One major thing this helps with is covering yourself for those clients who want to blame other for their poor planning. We can try and help clients till we are blue in the face, but some refuse to plan well. So providing them this video will cover you and they won't be able to say later, you didn't talk to me or I didn't know about 'x'. Much of what you have in the video, we have in our planning sheets which we give to all our clients.. They fill it out, so they know what we are looking and asking for. If not there, we have several blog posts that have examples of what we are talking about on our blog. I applaud your effort. __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

February 20th, 2016, 10:19 AM	#9
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Re: Blog Video Lol, today I googled "90% of brides regret not getting video" and your video/this post was like number 4 in the google listing. Figured you'd want to know. __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?