After five years of college , and several difficult years of work, I find myself in the field of video production, making money making use of the most recent technology to produce content for my clients.

Even in college I went through a few years using tape-to-tape editing systems.  Media production then had limitations and took a lot of time .  In my last year of college, technology changed – and  changed fairly quickly .  By the year’s end we were being cross trained on ‘non-linear’ video editors , a radical and exciting shift in concept when it came to editing.  By the time I went to grad school two years later, the linear tape-to-tape editing systems were gone and were replaced with the newest technology in the video editing world.

Thus began a process that had little hope of ever slowing  .  Advancements in technology  are so wide-ranging and so rapid that even we experts  in the world of media have a stressful  time keeping up. Even when we’ve picked a platform and software choice , the updates  to that specific software are enough to keep us in constant ‘training’ mode.

For owners of a small business , this can be a difficult undertaking . We find ourselves in a sort of “catch 22″.   If we dedicate  the time , money and training required  to become a master of a certain  field, we have  to let go of other areas where growth is as constant and unrelenting.  We eventually cannot keep up  and before long we are unable to give  our clients the high level of service  that they rightfully demand.  The second option  is equally as dangerous.   By spacing  our time out we risk becoming a jack of all trades, but master of none.

The work I do for my clients is exacting and precise. They come to me when they need high quality video production  that uses the newest  technology  in every area.  The clients want our content to keep up with the trends of a tech-savvy  world. The latest trends in Hollywood and on the major networks very quickly become the  quality of work  our clients expect to see being developed by  small video production businesses  all over America where a single person is doing the work  of twenty at the big companies .  I like the Thunderstruck 2 slot game and it is because of all of its interesting features that I continue playing it. In order to get top clients , I have to be at the top of my game in graphic design, in HD Video Acquisition, in the creative  editing of their production , and in the delivery of the completed work .

It’s a nearly impossible feat  to complete, not to mention a very costly  process to keep up with having  all the latest in technology.  Only a short time ago  I could easily budget  for expenses in hardware and software upgrades once a year or every two years. These days if I waited two years I would be starting from square one  .  As soon as  I purchased the quickest , most impressive computer for editing than the large companies  in media content creation develop  the latest and greatest in video acquisition, which requires a newer, quicker  computer to handle it. It’s a never ending , unrelenting, and completely maddening circle of change that never stops. Many people who also go gambling online for the first time often struggle with these types of situations.

So in such dire  conditions , what is the best case solution ?  The answer is not a solution by any stretch .  It’s a matter of making a choice, and then learning to make that choice work.  In my case I felt the decision  was – stay relevant or die.  The implementation of course would be a little harder .

For years I was nearly a one-man show. Most of the work  I did I could finish  almost completely  on my own. The projects  may have taken more time , but from start to finish  I was completely  responsible for the final product. When it became clear that would no longer work I made some tough choices.  Knowing it would deeply affect my profit  for a time, I decided to hire  professionals to handle different areas of content development .  I no longer had the time to spend creating original content in graphic design – so I found  someone better than me in the first place.  It was more expensive, but I also began creating  higher quality  graphic design work  than before.  I started  renting the high quality  equipment on video shoots rather than  just using the paid off equipment I’d had for years.  It was more  costly , but in no time  I was delivering products to my clients produced  with the highest quality technology available ( within reason for a small business  ).   My business change  basically came down to Hiring UP.  Anything I didn’t do, I hired someone better than me to do it.  There were times I had to have a little humility  to do it, but I kept telling  myself that I was in essence becoming a producer – and that the final product ultimately reflected back on me – and so a high quality  product would only make the company look more professional .

Did it work?  It did.  It’s still a costly  under taking  – more than I’d like to admit, but that process is also bringing in larger  clients with larger budgets .  I’m dedicating myself to constant and consistent training in all areas of production. I have to be careful not to let new technology slip by me  to the point where I cannot  keep up creative control or lack the knowledge to comprehend  my creative options.  But I aware  now that I cannot  manage all areas of video production  with the expertise that my clients need .  The growth is simply too quick .  If my Phoenix wedding videography  company doesn’t grow equally with these advances , I risk being left behind, selling typewriters in an age of laptops.