Are You Serious About Your Video Business?

HOW SERIOUS are you about your video operations? Do you limit yourself to video as a hobbyist, or are you attempting to “work” your enthusiasm into a business? To what degree? Are you going to settle for being a part-time independent professional video services provider or will you pursue this more actively, aiming toward a full-time business? Will this become a career-changing move, or simply augment your current job/position or retirement income? Is it time to assess your desires and ambitions, or do you simply wish to continue along a non-committed path of serendipity?

HEAVY QUESTIONS, for sure, but it might not hurt to take a good, long look at what you really want, what expectations you have at the top of your thoughts, or subconsciously — somewhere in the back burner of your mind where you rarely check to see what’s cooking. Not all of us take ourselves or our businesses so seriously. But maybe we should, especially if we actually expect something to come of it.

THE FIRST and foremost question is “How can I get a job (start this business) without experience” quickly followed by “How can I get experience (make this business work for me) withoug getting a job?” The answer, especially in the video business, is actually very simple: “Just do it!” In any career or business effort there is simply no shortcut to getting there. You have to put in the time and effort, invest the money and take chances in order to accomplish any goals in life.

Starting out with this realization will help keep the depression and disappointment of perceived failure at a minimum, and keep you focused on the long road — the road that leads to success. Keep in mind also that “success” is not only a state of mind as much as a reality of life, and perceptions have a lot to do with whether you, your friends, others in the business or your clients consider you successful. So consider the term generally, but don’t hang a lot of specifics on that tag. It’ll drive you nuts.

WHAT YOU NEED RIGHT NOW is some degree of knowledge and some basic equipment. For everything else there’s Google :-) and keep this in mind: You can learn a lot by reading material such as the articles on E.C. Come, E.C. Go, visiting other video related blog sites such as Lorraine Grula’s and Jay Michael Long’s, paying the price for a few lessons (but first check out the free samples) at Lynda Dot Com, not to mention viewing the literally millions of video production samples by independent (as well as commercial films) video producers.

THE CLASSROOM CONCEPT of education for film and video production has proven value, but a lot of that environment is based on theory, if not unproven concepts, and carved-in-stone “rules” that don’t always provide the needed answers once you’re out there in the trenches. Contrary to general opinion having a degree alone isn’t all that and a bag of chips. You need to immerse yourself in the effort and that means going hands-on.

SIMPLY REALIZING THE ESSENTIALS you might begin to ask yourself if it is worth the effort, the expense, the time ...

... We’ll take a look at that during the next segment of this ongoing series on E.C. Come, E.C. Go.

Remember: If you market, you will make it! © Earl Chessher