Spring has definitely sprung in Arizona. If they aren't yet,
I hope the warm and gentle breezes of the season will soon be caressing you.
This month we focus on stock historical footage and some marketing tips for
those of you planning a video biography business. And don't forget - it's time
to sign up for the next Create Your Own Video Biography workshop.
I hope you enjoy this issue of the Family Legacy Video™ Producer's e-Newsletter.
Please
e-mail me at
steve@familylegacyvideo.com or phone toll-free (1.888.662.1294) with
any questions or comments you have. Visit Family Legacy Video on the Web
at:
www.familylegacyvideo.com.
Calling all early birds! Reserve your workshop seat before April 15 and save
some cash.
Attention,
budding video biographers: Your chance to learn hands-on professional video tips
and techniques is at hand. Attend Family Legacy Video's three-day
"Create Your Own Video Biography" workshop and you'll walk
away inspired, energized and ready to start creating your own family history
documentary. The next three-day
workshop runs from May 19 to May 21 (Friday to Sunday) in Tucson, Arizona.
Take advantage of early registration to save some cash. Early bird
rates apply until April 15. Complete details, as well as testimonials from
previous workshop participants, are on the workshop page of the
Family Legacy Video Web site.
Join us for three jam-packed days filled with inspiration,
learning, fun. You'll meet people who share your passion for preserving family
stories on video and leave with the tools you need plan, shoot and edit your own
video bio.
Stock historical footage. We've all seen it used in the movies
and on TV. Thanks to early documentary film makers and newsreel cameramen, long
ago events, from the major to the mundane, still live on in grainy, black and
white moving images. Most of those clips are owned by stock footage libraries.
These companies license the rights to various clips to video and film producers
- and the rights can be very expensive. We're talking hundreds and thousands of
dollars for a few seconds to a few minutes of video, way more than most family
video biographers can afford. But what if you really want to include some
historical clips in your family video, both to bring a particular era to life
and to give your video that History Channel look? Do you have any low cost
options? Actually, you do.
Some of our taxes do go to support worthy government
institutions, and one of them is the Library of Congress. In addition to print
materials, the Library of Congress houses some great early film collections in
its American Memory Collection. Some of the films are in the public domain,
which means you don't have to pay to use them (however you may be required to
credit the Library of Congress on screen). You have the option of downloading
clips or of having them copied to tape and shipped to you. If the clips you want
are public domain, all you have to pay for is shipping and duplication. I
recently purchased a copy of some early Ellis Island footage (stills from the
footage are at left and at the top of the newsletter). I was very happy with the
service and the quality of the copy. Several video formats are offered, but most
home video biographers will need to opt for VHS.
Another option is an online resource called the
Internet
Archive. The site contains a variety of films and videos available for download.
Some of the material is free to use in your video and some of it isn't.
Downloads can take a while and, once you have the clip, you'll most probably
need to convert it to a file your editing software will accept. I used Blaze
Media Pro to convert some clips to avi files. The software worked just fine.
So, take heart. With a little online detective work, you may be
able to find some free and low cost stock footage to add some pizzazz to your
next video biography.
Got an interesting story?
Please share it with us.
Last month's issue included a snippet of a transcript sent in by a customer in
England. Several readers found the story about dray horses and their differing
reactions to British and German war planes interesting and enlightening. If you
have a short story or memory to share, preferably one that highlights a little
known aspect of history, please
e-mail it to me at Family Legacy Video. I'd love
to include it in a future edition.
Come see the show at the Family Legacy Video Theatre!
The Family
Legacy Video Theatre is the online theatre where you
can view all the video clips streaming from the Family Legacy Video Web site.
The clips you see there will surely inspire you with ideas for your family
video, plus you'll get to see Steve Pender talk about his passion for family
history video in two television appearances.
Ask
Steve - This month: Marketing techniques for video biographers
Q:
Dear Steve,
Here's a question for one of your newsletters. In the past you've given some
advice to video pros who want to start offering this kind of service. I was
wondering if you could share any tips about how to market such a service. I know
word of mouth is best, but how do you light the spark to get people
interested - newspaper ads, radio, direct mail?
- - Scott C.
A:
Hi, Scott.
How do you light the spark? First, you need a message. Think about your reasons for
wanting to get into the video biography business. I'm assuming you have a
passion for helping people preserve their stories on video. If that's the case,
from where does this passion come? Why would you want your grandparents or
parents to commit their stories to video? What would be the benefits of creating
a video biography? On the downside, what would be the regrets about not
capturing a loved one's life story on video?
Then, think about
what you have to offer potential customers. I'm not talking about equipment.
Nobody is going to care that you've got the latest X camera or Y editing system.
What they will care about is getting value for their dollar and knowing they can
trust you to care about their story as much as they do. Focus on benefits.
Highlight the benefits of creating a video biography and of hiring you to do it.
How you deliver that message will depend on the size of your marketing budget.
If you have little cash on hand, concentrate on public relations (PR) activities
that cost you time but not a lot of money. These include press releases to local
media, speaking to local organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, joining
and participating in business networking groups, etc. Craft a one minute
"elevator speech" that encapsulates what you have to offer and then get out,
mingle and tell your story. By the way, don't scrimp on the business cards.
You'd do well to use a professional graphic designer to create a professional
look and feel for your cards and Web site.
Oh, and you SHOULD
have a Web site. Setting up and maintaining a basic site these days doesn't have
to be expensive, especially if you can do some or all of the maintenance
yourself. Make sure to learn how to optimize your site with key words and
descriptions and be sure to post samples of your work. If you're just starting
out, produce some practice video biographies of family and friends and post
clips from those.
If you've got lots of cash, you can look at
advertising like newspaper ads, radio & TV spots, and direct mail. However,
you're not going to be effective with only one or two ads or mailings. You need
repetition, which means many ads and multiple mailings, and the expenses for
those can mount quickly. So before you commit to any advertising, research the
costs thoroughly.
Good luck!
Cheers, Steve
Got a
question about any aspect of family history video production?
Send it to Steve at
steve@familylegacyvideo.com.
Some of our taxes do go to support worthy government
institutions, and one of them is the Library of Congress. In addition to print
materials, the Library of Congress houses some great early film collections in
its 
