Since we're quickly approaching the tax deadline here in the US, I'm devoting this month's issue to the BUSINESS of media production. Ever wish there was a place you could go to discuss how much to bill a client or to see if your production rates match the national average? Well, I've come upon a site that should be of great value to all media freelancers, producers, and especially those of you that work with digital video.

WEBSITE REVIEW: VideoBusinessAdvisor.com

I had the pleasure of chatting recently with Steve Yankee, owner of VideoBusinessAdvisor.com. We were talking about the specialized nature of the media production business and how there really was very little information available that specifically addressed the day-to-day problems faced by large and small media production businesses and individual creative freelancers.

Steve, who has an extensive background in advertising and marketing, believes that most video production businesses suffer, not from a lack of creativity, but from not knowing the proper way to market their talent. Face it, most freelancers have spent most of their time gaining the creative skills necessary to compete in the professional world. Marketing, not to mention even basic sales know-how, is something most creative people have little knowledge of, or have learned second-hand, often by making a myriad of real-world mistakes.

This is the gap VideoBusinessAdvisor is trying to fill. It serves as an online oasis for video professionals offering specific video business support. It also acts as a portal to a community of media professionals who, through chats and discussion forums, can share their combined knowledge of the video production business. Need to know if your pricing is competitive? Just ask the group.

I was very impressed with Steve's site. Members have access to a broad array of information.

There are articles about:

• Handling the Price Sensitive Customer
• Smart Marketing Strategies for Videographers
• The Corporate Video Production from Hell
• How to Compete with Powerpoint - and Win
• A Sample Video Production Contract

Members can download numerous e-books related to the business of video production, business plans, checklists, and project management.

I also found the online forms section very helpful. Here you can download a series of templates and pre-made forms to help organize your production business.

Downloadable Forms include:

• A Location Packing Checklist
• Expense reports
• Project Timeline
• Talent release
• Location release
• Story boards
• Video shot list
• Sales letter templates

If you are just starting a video production business or are an established freelancer, there's lots here to help you better time manage your operation. I heartily recommend that you investigate Steve Yankee's fine site - VideoBusinessAdvisor.com

To give you an idea of the content of the site, I asked Steve to contribute an article to this month's Underscore.

Feature Article: How to Produce a Dynamite Demo Tape
By Steve Yankee

If you don't have a demo tape --or you've got one that isn't doing the job --don't feel like the Lone Ranger. A good demo tape is a rare commodity in our business, simply because we're like the shoemaker of legend. Many times we're simply too busy making shoes for other people to take the time to put shoes on our own (barefoot) children. Well, if you want to run with the big dogs instead of staying on the porch, you've simply GOT to take the time!!! Because a good demo tape, properly planned, produced and distributed can win you a lot of profitable new business.

So what is a demo tape, anyway? Contrary to what you might think, a demo tape is not a random collection of snippets and scenes from video productions you've already shot and sold. Even though we've all cut and pasted and used these types of tapes before, for all intents and purposes it is NOT a real demo tape. Because "Demo" stands for "demonstration." It does not stand for "a miscellaneous collection of unrelated scenes."

The first mistake --you're trying to move too fast!

The first big mistake most producers make is to hurriedly throw a demo together because a client wants to see it -- right now. The second biggest mistake is to grab unrelated or imperfect bits of video footage --bits that don't convey the message you need to relate to your prospect or suitably showcase your production quality -- and hope, somehow, that it will suffice. It used to, back in the days when being a video producer was the only qualification you needed to work on a video; but video is no longer a voodoo technology; most everyone owns a VCR, if not a consumer camcorder, and has the basic knowledge of how videos are put together.

Far and away, though, the very biggest mistake you can make when you assemble your demo tape is to center the attention on yourself...and not your client.

Your demo must be client-centered!

Let me elaborate. I've talked to hundreds of video producers. Many of them wonder why they're not bursting at the seams with profitable jobs. Most of the time I believe it's due to a common fault: too many video producers focus their marketing efforts on themselves, their own talents and equipment, and on what they're selling...and NOT on the prospect and why he or she is buying.

I've been harping on this subject for a long time now, so by know you ought to know what I'm saying. Your demo tape must use what I call client-centered marketing to get people to come knocking on your door after seeing it.

Client-centered marketing is very simple. All you have to understand is the difference between features...and benefits.

Features are about you and your product or service. Saying "we use 3-chip broadcast quality cameras" is a feature.

Benefits are the results that your products or services offer to your prospects.

It would be far better to tell your client that their production is captured flawlessly, in perfect color and sharp focus --which is the benefit of using a 3-chip camera...than to tell them you use 3-chip cameras, and letting it go at that

Are you with me so far? Good. Because I want you to make a real point to remember that whether you're making a new demo tape or writing a sales letter or talking on the phone to a new prospect --you must use BENEFITS to sell to their wants and desires.

And that's the First Commandment of making a dynamite demo tape: focus on the client's benefits of using you as their video source...not on the features of you, your equipment or your company.

Here are a few more commandments you need to follow:

Your demo tape must be planned properly. Creating an effective demo tape is not a one-day job...it'll take some time to create and execute a video program that'll really do the job you want it to do...to reach the audience with which you wish to do business. It doesn't help to show wedding scenes on a demo tape aimed at corporations...or vice versa. So always keep the needs of your target audiences topmost in your mind.

Your demo tape must be produced carefully and exemplify your very best work. No glitches, no bad camera moves, no bad edits. Simply the best you have, presented in a logical sequence.

Your demo tape MUST have a call-to-action! It MUST offer something to make the client respond, and respond NOW! It (or the note or letter that goes along with it) should contain a limited-time discount offer, a coupon good for a dozen free duplicate copies of the finished production, or some value-added benefit that makes the prospect reach for the phone to call and book you...NOW.

You must get your demo tape in front of the people who you want for your customers! Like any marketing tool, a demo tape is useless unless you get it out there working for you constantly. So who should get it? ANYONE that you contact --or who contacts you --who requests more information about your company and your video capabilities! Mail it, deliver it yourself...but get it out there where it can be seen... appreciated... and responded to.

Remember the value of good & proper follow-up.

Now your demo tape may be the demo tape to end all demo tapes. But you've got to remember that people can be lazy or unwilling to commit to a video project. And while your demo will certainly get their interest, by itself it's usually not enough to get them to call you. So you've got to realize the value of proper follow-up. That includes phone calls, postcards, and even a second or third sales letter if required.

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Steve Yankee's experience includes creating effective advertising and marketing tools for hundreds of companies, including General Motors, American Seating, Federal-Mogul, Herman Miller, International Paper Company, the State of Michigan, Kellogg's - and even a former U.S. President.

The author of Script Starters, the award-winning Secrets of Dynamite Demo Tapes, the popular Master Video Marketing Course, and dozens of other books, videotapes, CDs and booklets, Steve's work has earned him an international reputation as an innovator of highly-effective, results-oriented marketing tools. VideoBusinessAdvisor.com