People and planet

This business makes a positive difference by...

• Helping people keep in touch with their loved ones in a different way.
• Recording a memorable event that can be replayed over and over again.
• Giving something that can be treasured and kept, making everyone happy!
• Making someone feel good because they know that they are helping you develop your business skills.

Before You Start

Do Some Market Research

Conduct a quick survey among your neighbours and friends asking them:

• Have they ever wished they could send a loved one something different?
• Do they like the idea of sending their loved ones pre-recorded video messages?
• What about the idea of creating a video bibliography of their life?

This would give you a clear idea on how your business will perform

Things You'll Need

• Access to a video camera
• Empty tapes or DVDs (if you have a DVD burner on your computer - u lucky dude!)
•  Diary to keep notes of your busy schedule and your clients' special requests

Finding Clients  

• Start with your neighbours and friends - You have the advantage that they already know and trust you. 
• Have a creative and convincing flyer - Convince people how much of their lives can be shared and kept forever. It could also be a cool gift for a loved one!
• Have an irresistible special offer- It will help you retain more business if people are working towards something free. E.g. First hour of consultation free!
• Once you're more experienced you may want to: Create a portfolio that has examples of your BEST work to show your new or potential clients; place an ad in your school or a local school newsletter; place an ad in your community newspaper; pin flyers on community notice boards (make sure you're allowed to do this first)

Pricing: Make sure that you cover all your costs in the price you plan to give your clients. Take into consideration the amount of time spent recording, and perhaps editing the video clips. Also, keep in mind the costs of buying blank DVDs or tapes that you need to use to film your clients.

Think Safe!  

• Whenever you're visiting the house of any client you don't know really well,  always have an adult present, and always make sure that your parents know  where you're going.  You can trust most people but it's better to be safe.
• You need to be at least 16 years of age to be able to be in the house of a non-family member. It's just to be safe!

Get on with it

• Asking the Questions:
• Before you start filming your client you need to know the four main steps of video production (according to Kids’ Vid): Scripting– create a storyboard of what is going to be in the movie; Making the video– shooting the video; Editing– organise and make the necessary changes to the movie; Showtime!– ways of showing your movie (i.e. the video formats)

To get started on your video, you will need to ask your clients questions that will help you with the four steps above. This would give you an idea of what to film and how to film it. Ask:

• Who is this video for?
• What is the purpose of this video?
• How long do they intend for this video to be?
• Do they have any special requests?
• Does your client want the final video to be in a video tape or DVD format?

Watch out Steven Spielberg!

• Be prepared to spend a reasonable amount of time filming your client's message.
• There may be parts of the video that they need to change.
• Start off by making them sign a purchase agreement
• Make sure that they can preview what was recorded and make sure that they are happy with the video (as some people are picky with the camera angle!)
• If editing is needed, include this into the amount that you need to charge you client
• Make sure that once the final video has been created, you might need to transfer the video to another type of media (i.e. VCR tapes, or DVD) so that your clients can view it and/or send it.

If you want further details about any part of the video production steps, visit the Kids’ Vid site.

Once you get better…

• You could try other professional video production businesses like:
• Corporate video creation
• Video recorder of events (e.g. weddings and birthdays)
• Real estate sales video creation