IN[FOCUS]

First. Yes. I think I’m hilarious. Second – this post does have relevant information for you to connote. Ok. That was the last one.

Contra deals are simply trading your services for someone else’s product or services so that both parties are happy – and typically actual money is not involved in the deal.

Contra can help when you need something and might not be able to afford it. It can also help when someone else wants what you offer but can’t pay you in actual cash – but can do something for you that could be useful to you or your business.

Contra can also be good for connecting with potential partners which will help to grow your network.

We have had both good and bad experiences with Contra deals.  We have had some deals that have worked out very well for both parties and we have also had experiences where we have felt that we didn’t get the best outcome or even what we had hoped to get out of the deal.

As a video professional – you have the ability to create some pretty awesome resources for just about anyone which is a huge asset for you. The important thing to remember with Contra is that you need to ask ‘what’s in it for me?’  You also have to ensure that ‘what’s in it’ is actually equally beneficial for your business as money would be had you charged it.

A very important part of the Contra process is to accurately value what is being traded on both sides.  This is where you can get into trouble if you’re not specific.  An example of this is if you’re getting something with a price tag on it – but creating a video in exchange without putting a price tag on it.  The person you’re trading with may not understand that changes to your video equal more editing time which equals more value. And then you’ll be frustrated because you’re not getting more for the extra time you’re putting in.

The first example of Contra I can give you is regarding… diapers.  My sister Jen is expecting her first child in February of 2012. She is very excited about cloth diapering. She showed me the website for a new company called Glowbug Diapers and I noticed the company had place-holders saying ‘video coming soon’. So I emailed and said – “hey – can we make you a video or two in exchange for some free diapers?” We set up a meeting and discussed what our videos were worth and the price tag of the diapers. In the end – we agreed on 5 sets of 12 cloth diapers – so now we have some ammo for future baby showers! Here’s the video if you’re interested. The owners of Glowbug recently had a baby trade show and said our video alone helped them sell 15 cases of their diapers and they were pleased! Everyone wins!

A more business oriented Contra exchange that has benefited us is with the organizer of a local high-end wedding show called The Wedding Co. The owner of the show recently announced that she was about to publish a high-end Toronto based wedding magazine and enter the world of wedding publishing in print. She asked if we would create a series of short teaser videos to promote the launch of the magazine in exchange for ad space in the magazine and on their blog.

We have worked hard on the four videos for this upcoming magazine launch – but being featured in this magazine and more prominently on their blog will really help us and only cost us our time.

Here’s an example of a contra deal that isn’t written in stone – but still works for us and is an example of relationship building as well. We have a relationship with a high-end wedding gown designer in Toronto where we will make videos for her in-store television as well as for her trade shows and website. Her end of the deal is not exactly tangible for us – but every single one of her clients sees our work and we have actually booked 4 weddings as a result of simply having our work play in her store. We have also received over 20 inquiries from this relationship. So we give a little but we gain a little too.

And finally- another form of contra can be creating a video for a charity. In these types of deals – you often don’t get money back – but you can get both charitable donation receipts for your work as well as the recognition from the charity as helping out your community. We have done that at times in the past – a good example is this video we made for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

So in conclusion – Contra deals are a good thing as long as both parties are clear about what they want out of the deal and providing you not only deliver – but get what you want in the end!

What are some examples of your Contra deals – those that have worked for you, and those that have blown up in your face!

Andrew Sorlie

Andrew and Emily Sorlie are the owners of Honey & Dear, a successful Toronto, Canada - based wedding cinematography company. They attended their first [In]Focus conference in Austin, Texas in 2010, and it radically changed the direction of their company. With the knowledge and experience they gained, the Sorlies rebranded their now-flourishing business from Sorlie Arts to Honey & Dear. Together, they have filmed more than 80 weddings all over the world including Australia, Dominican Republic, Singapore & Canada.

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I promise this will work.  You may have to try a few different variations to find out what your clients want, but when you do, you will be able to create sales the easy way… and I’m not saying that sales is easy – but when comparing the two kinds: current customers and new customers – the former is wayyy easier to sell to.

Check out ShootQ and MadMimi if you haven’t already… these two services have more than paid for themselves by just allowing us to create simple promotions that we can send out to our email list that we’ve built with them.

I mention in the video that we sent this promotion out to all of our 2011-2013 couples… they had 24 hours to contact us and let us know that they are interested in adding some enhancements.  I will update this post soon when I have the final numbers.  

It took me about 45 minutes to create the graphic and write up the email blast…  and it took less than 24 hours after sending to receive 4 inquiries for upgrades from existing clients and 1 lead to set up a consultation.  This could easily be money left on the table if people weren’t given some motivation.

Check it out and I’d love to hear any ideas you might have on how to increase sales – preferably the easy way! 

Ryan Koral

Epic Motion is a photo + video studio specializing in weddings and events. Based in suburban Detroit and led by Ryan Koral, Epic Motion has been named one of the Top 25 Event Filmmaker Studios in the World.

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One of the historically awful things our industry has been known for in the past is using bad music. It’s right up there with slow-motion and cheesy graphics. I think even today, there are remnants of that and the evidence is when a bride asks if she can pick her own music!

A few years ago, our English friends Coldplay arrived and we all breathed a sigh of relief and began using their music. But then Coldplay became cheesy. And now it’s a race to be the first one to use the newest Bruno Mars or One Republic single in your SDE – kind of staking ‘claim’ to that song (I honestly can’t get that whistle tune out of my head – you know the one). There’s also another looming problem which is the record companies. I believe it was Jason Magbanua who received a letter from Warner Brother’s lawyers for using a Jason Mraz song in one of his edits.

I can remember a forum discussion a few years ago. Someone – a new-comer to the forum just getting started in this world of event filmmaking – put up an edit using the famous (in our circles) Amy Seeley song ‘Gravel Lines‘ (which most will agree is from the first StillMotion piece that really got people’s attention). I can recall someone saying – ‘Don’t use that song – that’s StillMotion’s territory. Now – that’s not exactly true – but the song was pretty unique and instantly people thought of SM when the song began to play. Using one of ‘their songs’ made this new film seem almost not relevant or worth watching just because it used an iconic song…

People started to realize – we need music that people like. Let’s try licensing it. I personally put in a call back then to Universal Music inquiring about using a popular song at the time.  The response I got was if you want to use our music – you’ll be paying upwards of $4,000 for single DVD home use. “You want to use it online??” they asked, “Well… you can start by giving us the title to your home and we’ll go from there”.

So you can’t use cheesy music (and please don’t). You can’t use popular recorded music (at least online anyways) for fear of either law suit, bankruptcy or simply just not standing out from the crowd. And you can’t use a song that you’ve heard someone else in our industry use (well – that is another discussion for another day – but you get where i’m going). You’ve got to use some form of music!

In 2010, StillMotion launched a new business that aimed to solve all of your problems for just $99. The deal was that the artist would get 50% of the fee and the website would take the other 50% for all of the admin side of things.  WithEtiquette.com was (and still is) a great resource for us in the wedding filmmaking world. When they launched – they had a catalog of about 30 or 40 songs. You pay them – they pay the artist – you get to use the song and everyone is happy! WE is still growing and adding to their catalog – which is probably the only downside to the website (size of catalog). 

In 2011, TheMusicBed.com a royalty-free music site was launched with a massive catalog of resources for production music for not only the wedding world – but also for the non-profit and church video production world – but their songs are just $49 each. I happen to like TMB for a few reasons other than the obvious financial difference.  The website is very easy to use and has all kinds of ways to find new music. They have categorized each song by style, length, mood and intended application.  There is a ‘wish list’ feature that allows you to add a song that you may use another time. They also do a very good job of recommending new music and keeping the site fresh. Every time I log in there is a new artist on the homepage. I also really liked that they sent us a hand-written card in the mail inviting us to use their website and I have also had emails and calls from the site’s owners thanking me for the business.  Maybe I’m old-fashioned – but I kind of like that. Anyways – two thumbs up for the TheMusicBed.com.

We used a song for a Same Day Edit this past summer by an artist we found on TMB named Luke Huch. I sent him an email just letting him know we found and used his music through the website. From that little email – Luke  wrote us back and even blogged our SDE on his site and we’ve connected several times through email about possibly filming a concert of his one day.  Another cool little reason to hook up with a website like TMB.

And if that wasn’t enough – Vimeo.com just announced that they now have a Music Store – boasting over 45,000 tracks.  The cool thing about the vimeo store is you can license music for your own personal projects for just $1.99!  (It’s $98 for commercial use songs).

My conclusion is that finding good music is hard work. It does take time – but it’s worth it to do it the right way.  $50 or even $100 to use a song and knowing the artist actually gets a large (often 50%) cut of that fee is a good feeling deep down. Music is a very important part of any film and I hope this will help you make music an important part of yours moving forward.

Andrew Sorlie

Andrew and Emily Sorlie are the owners of Honey & Dear, a successful Toronto, Canada - based wedding cinematography company. They attended their first [In]Focus conference in Austin, Texas in 2010, and it radically changed the direction of their company. With the knowledge and experience they gained, the Sorlies rebranded their now-flourishing business from Sorlie Arts to Honey & Dear. Together, they have filmed more than 80 weddings all over the world including Australia, Dominican Republic, Singapore & Canada.

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