A Yachtsman's Guide To Making A Living With Video

Posted June 07, 2019

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On June 18th, we are going to run the second of our live, real-time interactive video seminars.  The topic this time is How To Make A Living In Video.

I am reluctant to call these seminars. They are vastly different from your traditional Web Seminar, which I find living death only matched by Power Point presentations. 

These are different. I prefer to think of them as virtual meet-ups. 

At any rate, the last one, which was supposed to be about Storytelling quickly evolved into 'how do I make money with my video skills/". It seems to be the #1 question everyone wants answered.  So I am going to start answering it.

In the meantime, here is a story you will like that helps explain a lot about where the video industry is today and how to be a part of it.

I have always been a sailor. I started sailing little boats when I was 9 years old and, like most sailors, worked my way up the ladder from Sunfish to Lightning to Pearson Ensign to Cheoy Lee Offshore 41 and then to a Swan.  Swans are the Ferrais  of offshore sailboats. Just incredible machines.

I might have continued this way had not my soon-to-be ex-wife, shortly after our separation, taken the boat out on her own and ran the Swan up on the rocks off the Elizabeth Islands.  Oops.

This left me without a wife and without a boat.  I missed the boat.

Shortly after I met Lisa, she got us tickets to the London Boat Show.  We were at the beginning of our relationship, so I said to her, 'let's pick out the boat you like the best.'  

She liked the Oyster 82.

£5 million.  

I don't think so.

So we started to charter the lovely Tilly Mint (see photo above).

Chartering is much better than owning. Trust me.

At any rate, as a consequence, I started to get lots of emails from Oyster Yachts about new offerings.  That's understandable. The emails always had lovely photos but no video. None on their website or their various social media pages either.

So I wrote to the people at Oyster and told them that what they needed was video.

(I try to write 3 letters like this every day, to anyone I think could be potential client.  The world of video used to be limited to broadcasters, then newspapers, but now it is everyone and everything).

At any rate, after a few days, my letter to Oyster got answered and then referred to an executive in their head office which led to a phone call which led to a discussion which led to an invitation to set a price.

We have not closed a deal yet, but I am inclined to do a barter!  

The point of this story is that potential video clients are in your in box every day. All you have to do is realize it and respond.

More on this and how to do it on the 18th.  

Hope to see you (quite literally) there.