#164 Personal Branding

In a recent episode of Spark, the CBC Radio and podcast show, Nora Young talked with Anand Giridharadas (14:59-24:25) about the nature and perils of personal branding. It's part of a larger show about about online identities and as always the people at Spark do a great job bringing insight into the way technology is effecting our busy lives daily.


As is often the case, the segment on personal branding made me think about my own difficulties realizing my online brand and the difficulties that content producers have being their own marketers. Because of the "always on", "global nature" of online branding the burden of time to position yourself for success is greater than in the physical world. Or maybe it's just a perceived burden. That's the question I have.

Now that a lot of the content we produce, whether it's books, illustrations, animations, video or music, podcasts and other audio, is online, how much additional time can we, as producers afford to devote to marketing ourselves?

I'm trying, but I still feel like I'm just getting out of the gate. How are you using your precious free time to promote yourself online?

Other links:
Dan Schawbell - Me 2.0
http://personalbrandingbook.com/
Krop - Online portfolio site
http://www.krop.com/creativedatabase/

#163 Video in a Day

A Day in the Life of Plimoth Plantations

Hey, it's been a while. I should have gotten this out a few weeks ago but I"ve been running flat out. I think that's a sign of success of some kind. I'm not certain.

I'm working on a number of different video projects in various stages of production, doing the video production internship at CDIA and producing another podcast each week, The Post-Movie Podcast.

On Monday January 25, from 10:30am to 8:00pm I started and finished a short video of a day in the life of Plimoth Plantation. You can watch the results in the linked video player below.



I believe the real lessons for me gained from this experience are the things the director and I did right. Creating a finished video in one day is not an ideal job by any stretch of the imagination, although I had a lot of fun - you can't approach a project like this without a sense of adventure and a come-what-may attitude.

Producing this video does force you to focus on the bare essentials and requires that you be very prepared before you begin. Storyboard or shot list was essential. Script or story also had to be nailed down ahead of time as well. All of that lead to a focused shoot and really really spare coverage. We were constantly moving, dodging the rain, shooting about 8 or 9 locations, none of which I had previously seen. Being mentally prepared and trusting your equipment is also critical.

My point is, none of the things I've just mentioned are unusual requirements for any video you need to produce. A situation such as this only demonstrates how critical they are to keep on schedule.

The deadline was real because we needed to post it to a TV station's site before midnight in order for it to be considered for inclusion in a future broadcast of a Boston show, Chronicle.

On Thursday February 18 Chronicle did a best of submissions from January 25 and I was told, thought I didn't see it firsthand, that this video did show. Good exposure for Plimoth Plantations, I don't know how much bragging rights there is in it for me. But I'm happy.

I hope you enjoy it. If you'd like any further information about the production process, let me know.

Hey I need some Help!

I've got a number of ideas for shows coming up and one of them is figuring out rates for freelance videography. I can tell you information on the web is skimpy and I'm not getting a lot of feedback from the few people I know who are doing this, just generalizations.

Could I ask you to email me at videostudentguy.gmail.com with your ideas, or experience you've had pricing jobs? I'd appreciate also if you told me what kind of video is was, such as corporate, non profit, weddings or other social events. Also any anecdotes about difficulties you had justifying your rates. In the current economy I hear that a lot of the suppositions regarding what people are willing to pay has changed drastically from just a year ago.

Let me know.

#162 Say yes

I thought I would give you an update on my busy schedule. In last weeks, last year's show I give you a list of things that I learned last year that were important to me, to my work and my career in digital video.

How busy I currently am is directly related to degree to which I'm engaged with other people. In other words networking. I don't have time to go into great detail, but I try to make the point that you won't get very far in meeting your goals if you don't say yes to people who ask for help, even if means getting little or no money in return.

Also, I want to plug a podcast I started producing - recording and editing, back in late November. The Post Movie Show is a conversation among Boston film critics about movies. I like it, not so much because I want to know about the movies, though they do cover a wide range of films, but because I appreciate their insights into what makes a movie a good movie to watch. This isn't a show about the latest coolest movie - opinions run high and are often hotly debated, but if you interested in listening to informed opinons in humorous doses, I think you'll like it a lot.

#161 Things I learned this year

I've got some end of the year reflections in this show. I've had a busy year, full of a variety of different jobs. I've learneda number of things that are important to keep in mind for anyone who is looking to enter the video production playground.

Even if you're already looking, as I am, I hope you can use some of these personal insights to keep yourself moving ahead. Here's a list as a reminder, but listen to the show:

• Let time do the heaving lifting
• Work for free, but not for nothing
• Life is not a zero sum game
• Be bold
• Surround yourself with motivated people
• Network, a lot
• Say yes first
• Persevere
• Be positive about things you can't control
• Know your value
• Learning is cumulative
• Share your goals with others
• Ask for help
• Learn to trust yourself
• Don't compare yourself to other people
• Define success for yourself

#160 Working on a crew

I've got a lot on my plate in December. But I enjoy the work.

#159 New Podcast

I've been busy over the holidays producing a new podcast. It's called the Post-Movie Podcast and it's a conversation between two film reviewers on recent films. Radical right?

I've also have a lot of irons in the fire production-wise and I hope to tell you more about it in upcoming shows. I'm going to be busy for a while.

#158 Black Friday Shopping

Black Friday is the mega shopping day in the United States, the day after Thanksgiving day. Stores open at 4am, even earlier and there are lines and crowds of people hours before the stores open.

The sound is a little poor, but hopefully this explains why I missed posting for a couple days.