Dogfood is Good (if You Make it Right)
June 19th, 2008 by Shannon Newton
Our creative genius minds {/evil_cackle} played a two-fer hand this week by producing a video for our TechCrunch 50 application. The video allowed us to chow down on some good ol’ Market7 kibble which is the only way to truly see if we are doing it right. User surveys and focus groups can never replace some first-hand experience.
The parameters were:
- Create a 30-60 second video that summarizes what we do
- Use every member of the team
- Do everything in-house
- Try not to embarrass ourselves (this one was the most challenging)
By doing this, we all gain the experience while the TechCrunch Gods get to glimpse behind the curtain to see the people responsible for creating our software. We had about 48 hours to put it all together using only our onsite resources. How did we do? Take a sniff…
November 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Great Video - But why do clients always want stuff at such short notice? - But then again, thats why we love what we do - Thanks
December 1st, 2008 at 10:10 am
Without regular involvement in video production the client cannot estimate the time it takes. It’s not photography, you can’t click and go. In addition, they are not sure exactly what they want or how to do it so, like most humans, the procrastinate by doing the stuff they are comfortable with rather than the scary stuff like content production. Much greater risk looking stupid in production.
You can do some things to encourage them to not wait until the last minute:
1. Regular contact for repeat customers to get an idea of developing projects.
2. Give them a choice of cost or time (but not both). If they balk at price, keep the focus on quality while giving a lower cost option for more time. Look for a way to say “yes” but don’t put yourself in a position where you resent the project by pricing too low.
3. Suggest breaking the project into pieces. Many times, customers don’t realize that just because video is usually shot all at once because of cost considerations, it doesn’t necessarily have to edited all at once.
If they absolutely must have it ALL right now and for your normal price then refer them to someone you think will do the job. I have always found it is better to pass on a job and refer it to a friend (which produces good will that can provide dividends later) than to resent the job and the customer.
You aren’t a producer because you like misery. You are a producer because you get excited about producing content. So don’t take jobs that sap that excitement (which last-minute jobs for low pay usually are).