How to make money with your video camera or camcorder
It’s time to to make some cash with your video camera and expertise. There are numerous ways to do it, you’ve just got to find a niche and go for it.
Video is increasingly part of our visual diet and is rapidly becoming part of our internet experience at an astonishing rate. For this reason, people more than ever are thinking video for communication and recording events. Now you can take advantage of that and make money with your camcorder.
Here at Sell Footage, we’ll be posting more detailed articles on specific opportunities, but here is a basic list that you may want to consider.
Weddings - Video has quickly become an essential part of recording and remembering the marriage ceremony. Couples continue to marry and the wedding video industry shows no signs of slowing down. Wedding videos can be a great source of income, but they like all event photography come with the added pressure of getting it right first time. There are no opportunities for second takes.
The best way to get into wedding videos is to practice by taping one for a friend or family member. You may or may not get paid, but you will learn valuable lessons about what it takes to record a wedding. The added bonus is you’ll have a demo video to show your first paying customer.
Sporting events - Think about the opportunites that in your own hometown. Perhaps you could offer to children’s sporting teams to film their grand finals or highlights from their season. Then sell the DVD to parents and relatives.
School Events - There are numerous possibilities to film important school events such as graduations, awards night, sports days, carnivals and grand finals. The key is to do it at a high standard so that people are willing to buy. A great opportunity for students is to video a high school year book during the year and sell a DVD to other students at the end of the year.
Legal industry - The legal world can provide lucrative opportunities for videomakers. The demand for video depositions has grown in recent years due to the continuing rise in litigation. Depositions enable obtaining testimony from witnesses in court cases simpler and often less costly than courtroom appearances and are the only option when a witness is sick or out of the country. Experts also say video can more fully capture the nature of a witness’ testimony than a written transcript.
Music videos - any aspiring band or musician knows the importance of a good music video. Get in touch with a network of musicians and offer your skills at a reasonable price and you are sure to have a steady stream of business.
Stock footage - Numerous sites on the internet now offer stock video for sale to designers and directors. These video clips are generally between 5 and 30 seconds and can feature just about anything. So get out there and start videoing. Videos that sell well include timelapses, usable backgrounds and videos that incorporate a strong concept, such as a newsworthy theme.
To do well with stock footage you need to invest time and energy and more quality videos you upload the better you are likely to do. While it’s not a get rich quick scheme, many videographers make their entire living out selling stock video. The demand for stock video will only increase in the future as people move from static to moving images as technology makes this more viable.
The great thing about selling stock video is once the footage is uploaded, you can sit back and make money even when you’re sleeping. Even if stock footage does not provide your entire income, it can provide you with some handy money. Look for more articles on this topic on SellFootage.com. Our most highly recommended stock video site is Pond5.com. It offers 50% commissions to videographers, has excellent approval times and allows contributors to set their own prices. Other sites worth investigating are iStock (the biggest but has lower commissions) and Shutterstock.