Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2017

The Freelancers Guide to Making Money in a Competitive Market

Everyone today has a smart phone and simple access to upload their videos to websites and social media channels. But skilled video professionals with higher end equipment still reign supreme when it comes to quality. And with the growing need for live video, there are more opportunities and money on the table.

Here are some ways you can capitalize on these opportunities:

Find your niche
Is there a market that hasn’t been tapped for live video? For Steve Rin at Neoteric Creative, he found that combat sports were not covered heavily online. Sure, the actual boxing matches were live on TV, but there wasn’t a way to bring the buildup and excitement to fans leading up to the main event.

With a background in sports production, Steve understood how important live was for pre- and post-promotions of high-grossing boxing matches. With limited budgets, Steve needed to get creative with the technology to share compelling behind-the- scenes content like weigh-ins, warm ups, press conferences, and locker room interviews. He wasn’t always guaranteed a complete production schedule or bandwidth in these unique situations. So, by being flexible and able to simply go live as soon as there was an opportunity, he was able to capture content no one had ever been able to share before. Once he started creating streams, the fans followed, and suddenly boxing promo companies started creating budgets for these types of live streams.

Lesson: Just because there isn’t budget, doesn’t mean you can’t show the value. Organizations will find the money if they feel the ROI is there.

Scott Rehling, President of Austin-based L2 Productions had a similar approach. With an extensive sports production background, Scott built his business around niche sports, including rugby and golf. These organizations didn’t have the NFL/ESPN budgets, but Scott had the know-how and equipment to deliver high-quality, ESPN-style productions at a fraction of the costs associated with these types of remote productions. Scott has been able to carve out a solid client base thanks to his new business model.

L2 Productions

When former network cameraman, Ben Traylor found himself out of work during the recession in 2009, he knew he could turn things around as a freelancer. He established Atlanta-based Ben Traylor Productions and started producing videos for PR firms, nonprofits, and corporate companies in technology, finance, fashion, transportation, and healthcare.

Ben Traylor (pictured in main image) 

By being a fully equipped production company, he is able to continue working in the broadcast world by being hired as a freelancer for NBC, ESPN, and the Weather Channel. Lesson: Never give up!

Leverage what’s in your backyard
Are you based in a city with a busy calendar of events? If you live in Minnesota, you know that Super Bowl 52 is set for US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. You should already be in talks with local broadcast affiliates, regional sports networks, and newspapers/websites to discuss ways you can support/augment their Super Bowl 52 coverage. Who knows the city better than you?

Look at what’s going on in your city and surrounding areas and find ways to promote your business and offerings to support those events. In breaking news situations, you should already be in the rolodex (or Outlook address book!) of your local media in case they need more feet on the ground. Remember, TV stations and newspapers are lean these days. It is much easier to outsource work to freelance videographers in a pinch.

Lesson: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. You never know what could come of a simple email or call.

Join a community/network
They say, “you are only as good as your next job.” To ensure that next job, make meaningful connections with broadcasters. And see which manufacturers in the production industry offer partnerships, affiliate programs, or other ways to connect you with potential clients.

The LiveU Community, for example, connects broadcasters and publishers with the best production companies and freelancers around the world for live event coverage. The community turns freelance videographers into an extension of broadcasters. Using an online portal, both videographers and broadcasters can search, select, bid on, and hire for an event.

LiveU Community freelance videographers like Ron Blome (Sat Link of Arkansas), Mark Weiss (Weiss Productions), and Guy Morton are regularly hired by broadcasters such as The Weather Channel and NBC to cover breaking news. Blome notes that his company originates a half dozen or more live shots per week for his network clients.

Weiss Productions

Most recently, Weiss and Morton braved Hurricane Harvey in Texas to bring viewers the latest news and updates from the field for their network clients. These guys are constantly being called to cover everything from natural disasters to politics, sports and more for Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America and other national programs. Not bad, right?

Lesson: Establish trust and a good rapport, while also being flexible are key when building your client base.

Owning your own business has its ups and downs, but viewers are hungry for more and more live content. If you are doing live, there are so many ways you can profit.

Contact LiveU to learn how you can become a LiveU-equipped videographer and accelerate your business.