Red Fox Media - Video Production - Website Design - Birmingham, AL

DishyMix is a podcast in which host Susan Bratton interviews well-known media, internet, and marketing executives. The goal is to provide listeners with insights on how to better market themselves and their brands by taking advantage of the philosophies and tools provided by Susan and her guests.

I was listening to episode 137 recently (follow the link to listen or to read the full transcript) and heard a comment that caught my attention. In the episode, Susan interviews Jim Kukral, a speaker, author, consultant, coach on all things business and marketing. He was on the show to promote his book, Attention, This Book Will Make You Money. Read the following segment of the transcript where Jim talks about the topic of motivation (emphasis added):

Jim Kukral: Motivation; well, you know, I’m kind of a different perspective guy. I know that there’s a lot of people who will tell you to go out and do step by step by step stuff, and I’m a big believer in you just have to go out and try and really fail. You really got to go out and fail. And it’s more important than ever in the internet business, is going out and failing as many times as you possibly can.

Susan Bratton: Yeah, fail and optimize, right?

Jim Kukral: Yeah. I mean there’s so much forgiveness out there right now, you know, in the internet marketing space. YouTube, I’ll give you YouTube for example. I mean YouTube has transformed the way that we are okay with videos now. Before YouTube came along everyone had, you thought you had to have this really nice pre-produced, you know, post production video that was very beautiful. Now it’s kind of like, you look at videos like that you’re kind of like “Ugh.”

Susan Bratton: It’s inauthentic now.

Jim Kukral: It is. And, you know, so it’s okay to make poor quality video now. It’s okay to go out and build a website or a blog or do something that’s not completely perfect, and this economy and everything that we’re, the technology that’s coming out is allowing people to be able to go out there and put stuff out there. So if you want to get motivated you got to go out there and actually just really try it.

In its full context, Jim is advocating that entrepreneurs, inventors, small business owners, etc. not be afraid to step out and take risks; that it’s important to try, even if it doesn’t come out quite right; even if it isn’t perfect. He then goes on to say that it’s acceptable to create a poor quality video in today’s market, because it translates into “authenticity.”

So, I’m going to leave this one open for discussion. I would love to hear your thoughts. Here are some things to consider:

• Do you agree or disagree with Jim’s assessment?
• Do you feel that it’s okay for a business to create a poor quality marketing video?
• When you see a brand with a poor quality video, what is your immediate reaction?
• Should companies start creating lesser quality videos because it makes them look more authentic?
• What does this mean long-term for video producers?

Running a successful business (whether you are a sole proprietor, small business, or freelancer) depends a lot on exposure. Visibility is incredibly important, because when a company is in the market for your services, you want to be the first vendor on the call list. Sometimes, when you are first starting out, gaining exposure means conducting business trade-offs. For example, you might shoot some photos for a local publication in exchange for ad space. You might design posters, ads, etc. for a local event in exchange for sponsorship recognition. Nothing is wrong with this approach, but it’s important to be very selective for whom you do these trade offs. If you aren’t careful, you will find that you are spending a lot of time and creative energy for little in return. Sometimes the exposure pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t. The trick is to learn how to find those trade-off opportunities that will maximize your publicity. You also want to be aware of those groups, businesses, non-profits, etc. that are only interested in how many “freebies” they can get out of you. Doing favors is fine. Donating your creative talents to a worthy charity is fine. But ultimately, you have to pay the bills and you have to make a profit. So it’s important to strike a healthy balance between the two.

In the past, I have been asked to produce video content for various non-profits. Many times, these non-profits have little or no money allocated for video. I try to help out when and where I can, and I have learned that if you are willing to make special arrangements for them, then they are willing to negotiate with you, so that both parties can benefit. For example, a few years ago I did some video production work for a non-profit. I was willing to do the job pro bono, hoping to gain some exposure among local businesses. Last year, the same non-profit came to me with two video projects in mind - First, they needed a promotional video for an annual fundraiser. Second, they were interested in producing some PSAs. I worked out a deal with them that I would produce the promotional video for free and in exchange they would pay me my normal production rates for the PSAs. It was a deal that benefited both my business and the non-profit.

I would encourage all of you to be charitable, but I would also encourage all of you to be business savvy as well.