Going Pro: Everyone has their own unique... oh forget it.

Everyone has their own unique story?  Yeah.  Maybe.  Or not.  

I’m an entrepreneur.  I’m a Start Up.  These are the hot terms, the lingo kids speak.   Frankly, I’m a workman and when I want to get work done I look for other workpeople.  As the son of one of the few living geniuses in the music world, I know that art is sweat and calluses.  It’s a relentless commitment to the work.  

Do we all have a unique story?  Okay, the answer is “yes,” but I’d prefer we find a less silly way to ask the question.  Something befitting the work we want to accomplish.

 What is my competitive edge over the competition?  Isn’t that the real question?

Define what you do 

in terms of what they want

You’ve chosen your niche, right?  Now it's time to identify the competitive advantage you have over other videographers in your area.  These are the qualities you will highlight your website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube channel, and elevator speech.  The most important rule-- and I’ll repeat: most important rule-- of marketing is to define what you do in terms of what the customer wants and gets.  Which means you don’t talk about what you do or make.  You talk about what they get, based on what they want.  There are a billion good examples in marketing.  You don’t sell laundry detergent, you sell clean, fresh smelling clothes.  You don’t sell beer, you sell a good time (or a pretty girl).  Not eyeglasses but vision. Not carnival tickets but thrills. Not laptops but creativity.  Not... and on and on and on.

Your niche defines your competitors

In defining your niche, you’ve found your real competitors. Articulating what differentiates you from them can be the difference between (business) life or death in the beginning. So do two things:

1.       Go to 3 of your competitors' websites and make a list of the qualities and capabilities they highlight.  If they have testimonials looks at those, too.

2.       Make a list of your own (unique) qualities.  What makes you stand out?  Go beyond “cost”—you don’t want to be the cheapest forever

Here’s an example from one of my competitors:  They used the word “creative” 8 times on a page with barely 200 words of text.  They used the word “story” six times.” They push “concept development” as their strength. They highlight experience and team.  They provided case studies.  In testimonials, their customers used words like fresh, compelling, creativity, joy to work with, worth every penny.  The message is clear:  they make creative concepts that will tell your story; they make creative concepts that tell your story; the make creative concepts that will tell your story.  The making is worth every penny and fun.  The creative is fresh. The concepts are compelling.  They do it through story.

 

Here’s what I decided were the competitive advantages of Hurricane Images:

·         Personalized service.  I’ll meet with you before contracts or money is discussed

·         Is video new to you? We’ll guide you. We’re hands on, not canned.

·         We have extensive production experience

·         We scale services to fit your budget

·         We’re exceptional at creating compelling concepts and script development

·         We’ve created multi-award winning scripts

·         We provide on-camera coaching for clients going before the camera

·         We connect you to your customers and fan-base.

So what are the “wants” that my customers will get? I'm very geared towards customers who are making their first (professional) video. 

Just joining us?  You can read about the beginning of the journey here.