So one of the things I struggle with is the business side of the business. Like many people in the industry, I got into film and video production because I enjoyed telling stories – not because I had any particular affinity for running a business.  I have to make so many decisions that seem to have nothing to do with the art that I love:

• Do I hire staff or hire a freelancer? (usually a freelancer)
• Do I spend time on the phone selling to new customers, or on social media marketing to existing ones? (both)
• Do I cut a budget in order to land the business – even though the project won’t be as profitable? (usually no)
• How much money should I spend on marketing? (as little as possible while still reaching my goals)

That last one is particularly tricky – since we offer strictly B2B communication services, it’s hard to find a marketing outlet that gets us the right kinds of leads.  If we do marketing that has even a whiff of a consumer target, we get inundated with “I have a great idea for a tv show” and “I need a camera guy to shoot my kid’s baseball team” types of leads.  So we’re very (VERY) careful about where our marketing messages go.  One service we like because it’s very targeted is Thumbtack – it allows us to create a really nice video production for business ad at no cost.  In addition, they give us lots of neat little tools like a spotlight profile on the business, and the ability to create nice Craigslist ads with friendly reminders to renew.  All for free!

Of course, no price is a good price if you don’t get the results you want.  Thumbtack is a new(ish) service and we’ve just gotten started with it.  We’ll see if ultimately it provides good value for Groovy!

If you’re a video or film professional, how do you market your services?  Do you do any advertising?  How about social media?  Face-to-face conversations with established relationships are obviously our most effective sales tool, but how do you pave the way for those selling opportunities?

The best thing about being the boss is I get to choose which tasks I delegate and which I do myself. Today, I chose this…

Or at least a slightly larger tripod…

The FedEx guy was a little taken aback by how enthusiastic we were at his arrival. I think I may have squealed like a schoolgirl.

However, I’ll get over the minor humiliation when I set our new beastie up for the first time!

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And now for something completely different…

We don’t often have the opportunity to do a completely outside the box project here at Groovy.  While we always work hard to be creative and tell good stories for our clients, we are constrained by the project’s audience, the objective, and the “think, feel, do” of the project.  This one was different.  We were asked to help the San Diego Blood Bank decorate golf holes for their 2011 Transylvania Classic Golf Classic Tournament.  Their one and only requirement? Make it fun. So we did!

BIG thank you to everyone who helped make this project a success – especially the team at Titan Arts who brought a lot of humor and hard work to this short film.

Principal photography was on our RED One with second unit photography on our 5D MK II.  The project was written on Wednesday, shot on Thursday, edited on Friday, shown on Saturday.

Click here to view the embedded video.