The filmmaking dilemma

We live in exciting times for filmmakers - the demand for online video is sky rocketing and the whole market is going up. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, a rapidly growing market comes with a few pitfalls, and it’s important that you understand how it will affect your work.

So, what are the consequences of a growing market?

Increased Competition

You might think that an increased demand means that you’ll automatically get more gigs. And chances are, you will! A higher demand means your current clients will likely order more videos, and you’ll probably end up gaining more new clients, too. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll automatically be making more money.

See, because the market is booming, more and more people are looking to enter it. That means you’ll have way more competition. This happens in any market – when demand goes up, so does competition. And more competition means…

Prices Will Go Down

Yes, more competition means lower prices because new companies are all trying to enter the market. If competitors are offering lower prices, you may feel pressured to do the same.

Even if you choose to keep your prices the same with your current clients, their demand will increase as well. Chances are that, over time, they’ll ask for lower prices because they will start to order higher volumes.

The takeaway here is that the industry is moving towards more video for less money. This causes what we call the filmmaker’s dilemma. Every single solution to the problem has negative consequences, so it’s difficult to know how to navigate the market efficiently.

For instance, you can choose to do nothing, keep your price and product and clients the same…but chances are, some competitor offering lower prices will push you out of business.

Or, you can lower your prices to try and match your competition…but that means you’ll have less money to invest in advertising or in gear.

But don’t worry! There’s a third solution, and it’s the best solution.

You can innovate your process.

This alternative has been used very often in other markets. It’s what Ford does with cars, what McDonald’s does with food, and so on. Push the envelope and figure out how to make yourself stand out amongst the crowd.

Now, an online video is a completely different product than a hamburger or a car, but it still has a process that can be innovated.

There are a lot of steps between the first contact with your client and actually delivering your video. If you can figure out how to optimize every single step and transform it into an efficient workflow, you will save money and you will save time.

Doing this will allow you to stay ahead in the growing market. This way, you’ll be able to turn projects around faster, helping you handle the larger volumes while also ensuring you won’t lose out on profits.

Of course, this is only one way to handle the filmmaker’s dilemma. We’d like to hear from you and how you view this issue. Let us know your thoughts on the growing market and tell us how you’re preparing for the rise of video market.