If you like creating videos, and you're familiar with Youtube, then starting a home based YouTube video production business might be a perfect fit for you. This is a home business that works well both online and offline. You can offer your services to the online marketing and business community and to offline businesses as well.
The offline portion of your YouTube video procution business is simple. Approach local businesses who have a shop, storefront or studio setup (you could potentially target work from home business people as well but people with office locations will be easier to start with) and offer to create a Youtube commercial. If you have your own camera or if you need to borrow a camera, this strategy would be very quick and easy to pull off. For a flat fee, you can film, produce, edit and publish their commercial to Youtube and all of the other major video hosting social networks.
Getting Started
Arrange for a camera as mentioned above. Begin making in person cold calls to businesses in your local market. If cold calling is something you're uncomfortable with (like me) then you could advertise in your local paper, distribute flyers or drop off brochures to local commercial establishments. To maximize your efficiency, select an area with a number of different businesses condensed into a very small area.
Enter the business with camera (and possible small tripod if possible/necessary) in hand. Approach the first business person you see and tell them you are a local video marketer. Use an introduction line similar to the following:
“Hello. I am a local video marketer and I help small businesses showcase their business, their staff and their products/ services using video. I am working with a production crew this week to film, edit and produce internet based commercials. If you have 15 minutes or so, I can do a quick shoot right now and have your new commercial up and running before the end of the week. Is that something of interest?”
Use this opening to begin a dialog and eventually pitch your sale. If you have a reasonable price, for example $50 or $100 for full product, they might be very willing to make the impulse purchase. If needed, show them a list of all of the video sites you will promote it to. The list could look something like this:
- Youtube
- Google Video
- Vimeo
- Viddler
- DailyMotion
- Metacafe
- Yahoo Video
- Veoh
- VideoSift
- etc.
Even if you don't plan on marketing your YouTube video production business online, it's advisable to still have your own website to display your end product and describe your services. It also looks more professional for a YouTube Video production company to have a web presence of their own. If you've never designed your own website and don't feel you have the skills or the time to do it yourself, you can get one designed very affordably. Just go to elance, or odesk and look through the freelancers ads or place one of your own.
Don't forget to create your own YouTube commercial to promote your own home business. You can then use it to showcase your work and educate your prospects on what you offer, how it will benefit their business, and what they'll get for their money.
For more details on editing your own video, read Wedding Videographer Business. That post goes into much more detail regarding the technical aspects of working with video.
Okay, that's today's home business idea. Stay tuned for another one tomorrow.
P.S. If you have any suggestions or ideas that you think might make a good home business, let me know and I'll see what info I can dig up on it for you.
Until tomorrow,
Terry
