Why Hire a Video Production Company in Phoenix

Small businesses go through an interesting evolution. Many entrepreneurs start out doing everything by themselves. They do the accounting, marketing, sales, operations and every aspect of business. Then they realize outsourcing the accounting makes sense. A CPA charges a lot for their services but they have expertise that saves money. Most entrepreneurs realize early on that it makes sense to outsource the accounting and finance functions to experts. This frees up quite a bit of time to focus on running the business. Gains in productivity help offset the cost of the CPA. Eventually, the business gets large enough to hire a bookkeeper and then a CPA and the accounting functions are brought in-house.

Hiring a film crew or video production company in Phoenix is similar to outsourcing accounting functions. You want to hire expertise to get the job done right without costly mistakes. Here are the top reasons to hire a video production company or film crew.

We Write Scripts

One reason video production companies are able to do the job right the first time without mistakes is the extensive planning and expertise they have in accomplishing a goal. At Arizona Filmworks we rarely do projects without scripts. I cannot tell you how many times (in the hundreds) a client said, “I don’t need a script. I’ll just wing it.” Or, they say, “our CEO has done a hundred of these presentations. He can stand in front of the camera and wing it.” No, he or she cannot wing it.

Writing a script allows us to sit down with you and ask some hard questions. What do you want to accomplish with this video? What is the message you want to convey? How is this going to fit into the branding of your company? The script allows us to plan the shoot. We know how many locations we will need. We know how many music licenses we need to buy. We can choose a color pallet from the location to make wardrobe complimentary. We can plan the most effective visuals to accomplish the goal.

We Have the Expertise

Video is powerful because it combines motion, music, audio, colors, lighting, tone, mood, text, graphics and the image of the right people into a few moments that educate, motivate, inspire and change perspective. You cripple the power of video if you do not know or pay attention to the details that produce these powerful persuaders. Will you use Rembrandt lighting? Clamshell lighting? Flat lighting? Will wardrobe colors clash with the wall? Will you have a foreground, midground and background or just stand an average looking person with no makeup in front of a plant? Will you shoot in HD, 4K, 6K or 8K? Will you use long, fast lenses? Will you take advantage of shallow depth of field? Will the camera move to add interest? Should the color temperature of the lights be 3,200K or 5,400K?

We Have the Right Equipment

It is more than having a camera. You need to know how to use aperture, ISO and shutter speed to produce effects. You need to know lenses and whether a 50mm f1.8 is better than a 600mm f2.8 for this shot. Should the lights be tungsten, HMI, LED or fluorescent? Is the electrical system at location going to handle the lighting choices? Do we need modifiers to produce certain effects? Will we use colors to affect mood? Will wired lavaliers work or do we need wireless? Will a carotid shotgun mic work with a two or three-person interview? Will a teleprompter help the presenter eliminate “uhms” and “ahhs” and make them seem more intelligent?

For the same reason small and mid-sized companies outsource accounting, they should outsource video production. There is a perspective that says, “I grew up recording videos on my cell phone and uploading them to YouTube. I am an expert in video because I have done it all my short life. I never used a script. I never used lights. I never had to color correct anything and I used iMovie to edit. I have 800 followers on Instagram so, I am an expert and we don’t need a script.” That’s like saying, “I used Quickbooks on a high school bookkeeping assignment so I can make the financial decisions for my company.” No one really needs an MBA, right?

Please hire expertise when and where it will make a difference.

If you need a complete set of digital marketing services that includes stunning photos and awesome videos, check out AZF Web Design.

Web Design and Web Programming Phoenix

There is a new trend among video production companies in Phoenix, Arizona and all across the country. The new trend is for video production companies to become website design and programming companies. In the past, video production companies were generally hired to create one video at a time for a business. This created a feast or famine situation. As digital marketing became the focus of all advertising and marketing, videos were secondary to the website and various campaigns.

The new trend is for video production companies to become website design and programming companies. Web design companies usually charge a monthly fee for creating and maintaining a website for a business. These services include hosting and domain registration as well as a suite of SEO strategies designed to get the company to the first page of Google. Additionally, the video production company may also offer digital marketing services like managing PPC campaigns, social media campaigns and content marketing.

When pitching digital marketing services, the video production company says, "and, oh, by the way, we can do awesome videos and photos for your website." Clearly, video content is a critical and essential part of any SEO strategy. If you are not managing a YouTube channel for your business, you are ignoring the second largest search engine on the planet and the leads that go with it.

All of this means the video-production-company-turned-digital-marketer can offer digital marketing on a subscription basis. No more feast and famine. Reoccurring revenue every month means income that can be counted on. Offering comprehensive digital marketing services also means building in the cost of two or three or four videos per month to go on the website and YouTube Channel.

Arizona Filmworks offers Web design and Web programming services and a full suite of digital marketing services: AZF Internet Marketing Service or, AZF Web Design

You get:

• Digital marketing expertise
• Superior branding
• Brilliant messaging
• A modern website
• A responsive website
• A custom website (not a WordPress template)
• Stunning video to engage your visitors
• Professional photography to enhance your brand
• Maximized SEO on-page and off-page
• Viral Social Media
• The right campaigns, ads and PR

You get leads and sales and cash flow.

If you need a complete set of digital marketing services that includes stunning photos and awesome videos, check out AZF Web Design.

Marketing During Corona Virus

How are orders to shelter-in-place and self-quarantine effecting small businesses? How should this time of Corona virus affect your advertising, marketing and marketing message? If you are an “essential” business and remain open, how does that effect your advertising message? If your business is shut down, do you stop advertising?

Answers to these questions depend on what type of business you run. For example, during the month of March, there was a severe shortage of toilet paper. Any toilet paper that made it through the supply chain to a store shelf was gone in under five minutes. Yet, throughout the month of March, I saw expensive national ads on TV for Charmin. Really? Did those advertising dollars need to be spent? Obviously, those ads were purchased ahead of time and could not be changed but it created an odd circumstance that illustrates a point. Marketing messages need to be adjusted for the situation.

Businesses that are open need marketing to let people know they are open and serving the community in a time when it might be safer to close and stay home. Important messages would include how their service has adapted to keep people safe. One example would be restaurants describing their curb-side pick-up or home delivery service. Emphasize food prep safety. Present a “we-are-here-to-help” theme. Some businesses are scoring huge branding and Social Media points by legitimately trying to help. “Free pizza to medical personnel.” “We stopped sewing clothing and are creating thousands of face masks in an effort to help supply front-line medical personnel with PPE.”

Businesses that are closed need to use the time to plan. Consider the marketing campaign that will re-launch the business. Is this a good time to revamp the website? Should you add enhanced ordering features to your website? Is this the time to create new content for blogs and PR campaigns? Will you be able to advertise new sales and offers upon launch? “Grand Re-Opening Sale!” Is this the time to do a dozen YouTube videos for release over the first 12 weeks back in business? Is relaunch the time for TV ads to make sure the most people know about your business in the shortest amount of time?

Whether you are in the throes of business now or making plans for relaunch, your advertising and marketing is more critical now than ever before. Use this time to refine your message and get it out to the people who need to see it.

Sales Success Depends on Having the Right Videos

Bob White was the Director of Marketing for ABC Printing. His job was to find customers and his boss, Mr. Growler, was not happy with Bob. Sales were down. Budgets were being cut. One day, in despair, Bob googled, “how to find more customers, more quickly, and with less cost.” The answer was right there at the top of the organic search results: “Use the second largest search engine in the world.”

Bob started reading. People search for things on YouTube more than any other search engine besides Google. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. YouTube has over 1 billion unique users each month. Eighty million people in the U.S. watch YouTube videos every day. People remember 20% of what they read and 90% of what they see in a video. Videos are shared on Social Media 1200% more than text articles. Mentioning “video” in the subject line of an email gets 13% more views. Companies using video in their marketing generate almost 50% more revenue than companies who don’t. Video on landing pages makes them more “sticky” for SEO purposes and increases conversion rates 80%.

Bob got excited. Videos were going to be the answer. He pulled out his cell phone and started making videos. He cornered Alice Cooperton, pointed his cell phone at her and asked her to list all the cool things about ABC Printing. He found Bert and Earnie down in shipping and “filmed” them talking about shipping orders. He found Jerry Signfold outside sweeping the sidewalk and made a video about how good ABC Printing looks from the outside. When Mr. Growler saw the cell phone videos, he fired Bob and promoted Ashley Atkins to Director of Marketing.

Ashley sat down at her new desk and on the computer saw an article about using video in marketing. She called Arizona Filmworks and talked to an amazing, brilliant, video professional who explained how companies are now relying on video to communicate their marketing messages and generate sales. She invited the amazing, brilliant video professional to a meeting at ABC Printing. They discussed messaging, demographics and outlined a powerful approach for communicating to their target market. They scheduled a day to film several videos including client testimonials, how-to videos and a heartfelt message from the boss, Mr. Growler.

In a matter of weeks, there was so much business, Mr. Growler had to add a second shift. Revenue soared. Ashly Atkins got a big, fat raise.

How to Make the Most Successful Video Ever

Measuring success depends on defining a goal. Some people think the most successful video is the one that gets the most views. Others think the most successful video is the one that entertains the most. Still others measure success by the money generated by a video.

If the goal of a video is to attract customers, attention-getting devices might be essential. If the goal is to educate potential customers, a simple, clear, memorable message presented with over-the-top animations might be the most successful.

The process for making the most successful video ever involves the following steps.

1. Define the goal in measurable terms.
2. Define the target market with specific demographics.
3. Decide what will drive sharing.
4. Define the message.
5. Write amazing scripts.
6. Create detailed storyboards.
7. Do all the preproduction tasks like location scouting, casting and hiring crew.
8. Film the amazing script.
9. Create amazing motion graphics and animations.
10. Choose the right music and get licensing.
11. Edit the footage, music and graphics.
12. Post the movie to the right places.
13. Promote the movie.
14. Watch revenue soar.

All of these steps suggest one thing. Hire Arizona Filmworks to partner with you to execute each of these steps in the easiest, most-professional way. Arizona Filmworks will help you define goals and the target market. Arizona Filmworks will help you write the best scripts and storyboards and then take care of all the pre-production, production and post-product tasks so you end up with a video done right.

Video Production Phoenix

Where do you go to find the best Phoenix video production? Right here. Arizona Filmworks is a premier video production company serving Phoenix and Arizona. Often called one of the best video production companies, Arizona Filmworks offers full video production services that are affordable.

Arizona Filmworks follows the Hollywood production model. Feature films are considered individual projects. The best of the best work as freelancers and contractors and are hired for each feature film. This approach helps keep costs low.

The alternative approach is to build a beautiful studio, stock it with expensive equipment and hire a large staff. The problem with this approach is that the studio sits empty most of the time. Most of the videos we do are on location at someone’s business. The only time we use a big studio is when we are doing chromakey special effects and need a large green screen.

The cost of video equipment has been falling but the best equipment is still tens of thousands of dollars. Again, in the studio approach, most of the equipment (cameras, lights, stands, etc.) sit around collecting dust.

Hiring staff is the other pitfall of the studio approach. It is great to have talented people trained and ready to work on a project. The problem is paying those people in between projects.

The studio approach to video production in Phoenix has the major issue of enormous overhead. A friend of mine who owned a studio, had the equipment and hired the staff told me, “I have to generate $12,000 per month just to pay the overhead before I get paid.” Even when a video is shot on location, the client is paying something toward the overhead.

There is a better approach to Phoenix video production. The Hollywood approach allows Arizona Filmworks to hire the best freelancers and contractors, rent the appropriate studio and rent the best equipment for your project. This means you only pay for what your movie costs. You are not paying for staff sitting idle back at the empty studio.

Doesn’t it make sense to work with smart people who understand business? Call Arizona Filmworks and talk with smart people who want to help you achieve your goals.

Arizona Video Production

Video production in Arizona is very interesting. When cowboy movies and TV shows were popular, Arizona had a thriving industry. Movie sets were built outside of Tucson and used continually. The good guys wore white hats and road white horses. The bad guys always wore black.

The western movie industry in Arizona began to fade as heroes became dark, tortured souls fighting for redemption or revenge. Very few TV shows were set in Phoenix or Tucson because they lacked distinctive characteristics.

In 2010, the Arizona Legislature passed SB 1070 which, according to Wikipedia, was the “broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure passed in the United States.” This ignited a firestorm of protest and drew many boycotts from various industries. Hollywood and most of the film industry boycotted Arizona. Jobs in production went away. About the same time, the Arizona Film Commission was closed for lack of money in the state budget.

A couple of members of the Arizona Legislature fought and won a battle to eliminate tax incentives for productions in Arizona. They claimed that Arizona tax incentives were bringing California porn movies to Arizona. New Mexico still gave liberal tax incentives to production companies filming in New Mexico so business went east.

These events limited video production in Phoenix to TV commercials for local businesses and training videos for local companies. Only now is video production and film production beginning to return. There are scores of extremely talented people trying to make a living in the Arizona video production industry but money is scarce. Only the companies that offer superior service, value and quick response are making it.

Video Production Companies in Arizona

There are many great video production companies in Arizona. One of the best film and video production companies is Arizona Filmworks. Arizona Filmworks is a premier film and video production company. We have done over 100 TV commercials for local and national broadcast. We do Web videos that showcase the amazing businesses here in Phoenix. We do music videos for up and coming bands who want amazing visual effects to showcase their music. We do Kickstarter videos and crowdfunding videos that have targeted messaging that gets results.

We also do professional product photography for all types of products. Some of the most fun we have is doing fashion photography. We also do professional portraits. If it involves a lens, we probably do it.

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