Grow Your Video Business SSP 070: Is Competition Crushing Your Business? Here's What You Need To Do w/ PJ Accetturo
Do you ever feel like the walls are closing in due to competition, and there's not enough work to go around? In this episode, PJ Accetturo discusses the importance of thinking out of the box and breaking the creative bias, competition and community, what makes a good reel, how knowing how to correctly network can be a game changer, and how to keep pushing your boundaries as a filmmaker.
PJ is an award-winning filmmaker currently working as a freelance director based out of Tampa, Florida. He was published by National Geographic at the ripe age of 18 years old, and has continued to work on inspired and globally conscious projects.
We talk about our passion for filmmaking and how the ability to take a story from your head or heart, and translate it visually to create compound change is at the core of our role as filmmakers. We also dive into why community is so essential to our success, why a 30 second reel can be more impactful than one 2 minutes long, why PJ thinks that at least 30% of what you create should be a passion project, and ways you can engage and inspire your own community.
In This Episode
- Why you should almost never do videos just for exposure
- How you can support other studios in your hometown and get over the competitive mindset that could be holding you back
- The difference between networking for clients and networking for connections
- How a side hustle can balance your need for creativity and open up future opportunities
- Things to think about including and avoiding on your reel
Quotes
“Feeling like you’re not alone is honestly one of the biggest things that a community like SS offers, it is very validating. Being an entrepreneur is a lonely road and I really think a community like SS is very validating to know other people go through the same struggles.” (8:19)
“If you can find a culture that really embraces ‘we are all in this together, we are not trying to make our studio the best name, we actually care about our city and the filmmakers in our city and we want to work on some fun projects that make great art for everybody.’ I think people can get behind that” (15:01)
“There becomes a gap between the work you want to do and the work you are currently doing to make money. And I think you have to take moments where you step out in faith and say I am going to do this based on spec or as a passion project because I know I am capable of this and I know I have a vision for this because nobody is going to pay me to do something like this until I’ve already done it” (33:50)
Links
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Check out the full show notes page
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