Marketing Yourself

Whether you wish to work as an employee or freelancer, you need to demonstrate your video skills. While we like to be behind the camera, start taking some production stills showing your camera setups and you at work.

This is the SpiderPod camera riser I rent to give the camera rock-solid stability.

Small Business Administration

Freelance video production means you are in business for yourself. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a portal to learning about local classes in business and how to get loans. They even have a YouTube playlist with such titles as “How to Write a Business Plan” and “How to Sell to the Federal Government.”

SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) is part of SBA. They provide free consulting to help you start or grow your freelance business.

The IRS requires you to pay income taxes on freelance income. Clients will ask you to complete a W9 form and they will send you a 1099 at the beginning of the year so you can write a check to the IRS by April 15th of each year. See the IRS YouTube page.

Networking Associations

Chambers of Commerce: Attend meetings at your local chamber of commerce. Many have free or low-cost networking events so you can see if this is a group you would want to join. Chambers are listed here.

BNI: Business Network International has local chapters of business people who share referrals.

Facebook has tools for business marketing. This article from Mashable discusses using the social network to find jobs and freelance work.

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service. On the free service you create a profile, similar to a resume. You can post articles about video, and you can ask your LinkedIn friends to post recommendations for you.