Creating an online presence

[Alden Miller]

Hey All-

After a little searching, I didn't really find what I wanted. I was wondering if you guys and gals could help me. Here's my situation:

Currently, I have little to no online presence for film/video work. I have a personal Facebook/Myspace page and a couple videos on Vimeo.

In 2010, I started working on wedding videos, my goal was to shoot 10 wedding in the year enough that would provide me with a lot of good footage to build a website and business from. I also do a little misc freelance video work like B-day parties, stage shows, music videos for bands, etc. But, weddings would be the bulk of my business.

To throw into the mix, I am also a filmmaker and would like to present my work online to show things off and possibly get some work doing DP and other crew work on set as well.

So My Problem/Options:

How many websites do I need?

One site to rule them all? (sorry, I'm a bit of a nerd :P)
Two sites: Wedding/event page and then my filmmaking/ portfolio page
Three Sites: Wedding; Misc Production work; personal filmmaking/portfolio site

My assumption is that my wedding clients would probably feel more comfortable if they see my site as a wedding videography business, as opposed to "hey, I can do everything...and your wedding".

Do I build three "different" sites with backdoors to each? So I can use only one domain?

Lastly, I want this/these sites up before the end of 2010.


Help!

Alden

[Paul Mailath]

I would certainly seperate your wedding & commercial sites - I use 2 sites with to seperate 'brands' you need an online presence and it needs to be slick with so much out there. Take a look at sites like template monster, there are some really terrific ready made site that you simply have to modify (easier said than done sometimes) but a lot cheaper than a custom made site and a lot more professional than a 'homemade' site.

[Chris Davis]

Most definitely have a separate wedding site. Brides don't want to think you do anything else, and potential clients for corporate/film don't want to think you're "just a wedding videographer".

We do at least as much web development as we do video, so of course I recommend using a professional web developer. But if you want to do it yourself, I'd highly recommend using the Wordpress platform. There are thousands upon thousands of Wordpress themes available - start looking at templatemonster.com or themeforest.net

[Alden Miller]

Thanks for the quick reply guys.
I never heard of Template monster. I just checked it out. Pretty neat.

Ok, so obviously wedding site is separate.

On to site #2

Should I combine my video work: corporate and film work into one site?

Also, and this may sound weird at first...but, what good is a plain old website?
In the days of Web 2.0 should I Make a blog that has all the website info on it (including video samples)? Or just stick with a web site with video that also has a blog or news update area? (not sure if that makes sense)

In general, what I want is a place that I can call my own that has samples of my work on it. But I also want repeat visits for when i add new work or info on there.
So blog comes to mind, but I guess that means I will need regular updates in order to keep an audience. Which is obviously, more work.

Do you guys have blogs? Do you find it worth it?

Do you just have a website with your samples on it and leave it be and wait for the calls/emails to roll in?

Thanks

[Alden Miller]

No love?
Does no one else have a website that has their work on?
No opinions?

[Chris Davis]

Yes, have a blog, however the term "blog" is falling out of favor. So don't call it a "blog" or have a link to your "blog". Call it news, or "what's new" or whatever. The blog should be an integral part of your site, not something separate you send people to (which is why using Wordpress as your site's backend makes sense.)

Having a blog is worth it. If you blog once a week, that gives Google 52 more chances to index your site each year. It will help your search rankings. Keep your blog focused on relavent topics, like writing about your shooting experiences, marketing ideas for clients, etc. Don't write about inane stuff like taking your cat to the vet.

I don't think you need to separate your corporate/film work, unless you really like maintaining websites.

Don't expect people to just stumble across your website. Include your URL in all printed material, in all advertising, in your email signature, in your forum posts, etc. Websites are to supplement your advertising efforts, not replace them.

[Roger Van Duyn]

Like Chris said, using WordPress as the back end for your site is a good way to go. I just switched my site over a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty easy. I even got the PayPal stuff to work.

My site isn't fancy, but it is efficient. Once I get a little more experience with WordPress, I'll fancy the site up a little. From what I've read, I can set-up "sub-domains" Maybe I'll have to do that, because blue isn't the right color scheme for weddings. Blue is cool, efficient, business-like. My wedding page really needs a warmer color scheme. For now, I'd like to just change the wedding page, since weddings aren't a big part of my work. The corporate work has started picking up a little as of late, so that's my main pursuit right now. I also check on line from time to time for number of marriage licenses issued. There's not many in my area.

[Alden Miller]

Originally Posted by Chris Davis

Don't expect people to just stumble across your website. Include your URL in all printed material, in all advertising, in your email signature, in your forum posts, etc. Websites are to supplement your advertising efforts, not replace them.

Thanks all for the input. I was just being silly about the let the people find you part. Yeah, I plan on putting my web address everywhere. like the stall in the bathroom :P

I have been researching wordpress a bit. As that seems to be the popular vote.

[Nigel Barker]

I find a lot of videographers sites under 'Contact Us' just have a mobile phone number & an email address if you are lucky (& a stupid forms to fill in contact details if you are unlucky). No street address or even an indication of what town, city or region where they are based.

[Brad Owens]

Originally Posted by Roger Van Duyn

. I also check on line from time to time for number of marriage licenses issued. There's not many in my area.

How do you do that?

[Roger Van Duyn]

Hey Brad,

Where I live marriage license statistics are on the county web site under Clerk of Courts. For instance, here in Polk County Florida there was a total of 1,046 marriage ceremonies in 2009 vs. 3,718 marriage licenses issued. 2008 had 1,121 actual ceremonies vs. 3,900 marriage licenses.

As you can see from the difference in licenses issued vs. ceremonies performed, most of the couples evidently cancel their weddings, and the number of weddings is also declining.

More statistics can be found the longer you dig. Searching can be pretty tedious.