202: What You Need to Know About Gear w/ Chris Monlux

Nov 9, 2020

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Making smart gear purchases can help grow your video business. It can also be an expensive distraction. With such a large variety of choices and features, it’s easy to get lost down a rabbit hole of gear. To help shed light on this, I’ve brought on a true expert to this episode.

If you are new to live streaming, make sure to test it out thoroughly before you go live. Get the right gear, but don’t go overboard. Once you are comfortable with what you have, try it out and get familiar with all the settings. When it’s time to do the real thing, you’ll know what to expect and come off as a pro.

Key Takeaways

Be proactive with your customer service. Being quick to respond and communicate reduces anxieties and makes customers feel heard and valued. This is what ultimately leads to repeat business and referrals.

About Chris Monlux

Chris is the multimedia editor for Videomaker and their magazine. He conducts and writes all of their reviews and produces all of their learning videos content. This guy knows his gear!

The Essential Gear for the Modern Videomaker

Get ready to nerd out on a lot of gear in this episode. Chris describes why many different cameras are in his collection and why he enjoys them for their different features. However, just because a camera has all the bells and whistles doesn’t mean it's a good investment. Before you get your hands on an expensive piece of equipment, you should consider whether or not your clients would actually benefit from it.

For obvious reasons, live-streaming has become more popular than ever this year. There’s a lot of tech to consider if you do live streaming and having the right stuff can really make a difference. Overall, Chris recommends keeping it simple. Just a couple of cameras and the right software should get the job done. Where you succeed or fail will hinge a lot more on your content and marketing than it will on the tech that you use.

The Best Approach to Customer Service

Of course, gear is only one part of being a successful filmmaker. Customer service is a huge part of the rest of it. Chris describes how being quick to respond to your customer’s needs is central to this. Overall, your ability to anticipate their needs, communicate promptly and clearly and exceed expectations will keep them coming back for more.

What is the most essential piece of gear in your collection? Have you ever regretted buying a piece of equipment? Tell me in the comments on the episode page!

In This Episode:

Why Chris doesn’t have a favorite camera [4:28]
Finding creative fulfillment in your work [8:40]
How gear can both help grow or sidetrack your business [15:20]
The best gear and strategies for live streaming [29:10]
Anticipating the unpredictabilities when shooting live events [42:00]
How good customer service can save the day when problems arise [43:45]

Quotes

“I’m getting my creative juices out at work. I’m getting paid to have fulfillment creatively and that was always so valuable to me.” [9:22]

“I like to get inspired by my equipment, but to covet those new features when there isn’t a need is unfortunate” [17:27]

“We want those things that look really neat, but if someone didn’t tell you what it was shot in and it did the job, how much are you really going to care?” [26:46]

“If you underpromise and overperform, your client is going to be so excited about what they get because it’s more than they expected. All it is is setting expectations.” [51:19]

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