Running a business · 10 guides
Videographer/Film Producer: problems and fixes, explained by Jared
Jared Raines is the only videographer/film producer member of BNI Preston Center. These guides are written for a Dallas–Fort Worth reader who has the problem right now: what is happening, what to check, when to call, and what it costs.
- What a brand video costs in Dallas, and the decisions that set the price A brand video has no list price because you are buying days, people and decisions, not minutes of footage. Here is what moves the number and how to compare two quotes fairly. The short answer: the price follows the scopePre-production: the hours you never see on screenShoot days, locations and the size of the crewHow many finished pieces you want from one shoot
- Video for a Texas law firm, advisory practice or brokerage: the rules to plan around If you are a lawyer, a financial professional or a real estate license holder in Texas, your marketing video is advertising, and your profession has rules about it. Here is what to plan for before the camera rolls. Yes, and they belong in the plan before the shootWhy compliance belongs in pre-productionTexas law firms: filing with the State BarFinancial professionals: approval before anything goes out
- The video is live: how to tell whether it is working and how to get more from it A view count tells you almost nothing. Whether a business video is working shows up in how long people watch, what they do next and what prospects say when they call. Here is how to check, and what to do with the answers. Judge it by the job you gave itStart with the one job the video was givenWatch time tells you more than viewsWhat viewers do after the video ends
- Phone video or a production crew: what to film yourself and what to hand off A phone can make good, honest video for a business, and a lot of your everyday content should come from one. The pieces that carry your first impression are a different job. Here is where the line sits. Film the everyday yourself, and hand off the first impressionWhat a phone does wellContent you can confidently make yourselfWhere homemade video usually goes wrong
- Is your company video quietly working against you? Signs it is time to replace it An old company video keeps talking long after the business has changed. Here is how to tell whether yours still helps, whether a recut will do, and when it is time to start over. The signs, in plain termsSomeone on screen left the companyThe story belongs to the business you used to beIt looks older than everything around it
- Hiring a videographer for a conference or gala: the mistakes that ruin the recap An event happens once. If the videographer was briefed badly, the moments you needed are simply gone. Here are the mistakes organizers make most often, and what to do instead. The mistakes, in one paragraphHiring someone to just film itLeaving the crew out of the run of showAssuming a missed moment can be redone
- From first call to finished video: how long production takes and what shoot day is like The shoot is the shortest part of making a business video. Planning, approvals and editing set the real timeline. Here is each stage, what you do in it and what to expect when the crew arrives. The short version: decisions set the timeline, not the cameraBefore anything is scheduled: the strategy call and proposalPre-production: where the real schedule is setHow to get ready for shoot day
- Brand video, testimonial or promo ad: which one your business should make first Each type of business video does a different job. Making them in the wrong order wastes money; making them together from one production saves it. Here is how to decide. Start with the introduction, then the proof, then the offerThree videos, three different jobsThe brand video: your digital handshakeTestimonial videos: someone else vouching for you
- Before you hire a video production company: the questions that separate them Most video companies can make something that looks good. The questions below show you which ones can make something that works for your business, and which ones will leave you holding a file nobody watches. Six questions do most of the sortingWhat happens before the camera comes out?How will you make my people sound like themselves?Can I see work for a business like mine?
- Prospects visit your website and leave without calling: what a firm loses without video People do not hire a professional service from a paragraph. They hire a person they feel they have met. Here is how to tell whether your website has that problem, and how a brand message video is actually planned, filmed and put to work. The website gets visitors, and then nothing happensWhy high-ticket services are different from productsHow to diagnose your own site in twenty minutesWhen video is premature, and when the gap is costing you