When To Hire a Professional

1820 W. Webster Ave, Suite 201
Chicago, IL 60614
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Ph. 773-252-3352
Fx. 773-252-3279
Hours: 9-5 M-F

When Should I Hire a Professional Video Production Company?

Let's state the obvious. Video One Productions is a professional digital video production company and professional video editing service that wants your business. However, we can still discuss the pros and cons of producing and editing a video on your own versus hiring a professional company like us. So, let�s see how objective we can be.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

This should be your first consideration. If you need a simple demonstration or training video to show your fellow employees how to use a particular piece of equipment, you can probably do this yourself. Just aim the camera, tell ‘Mike’ to start, and shoot. However, if this is an involved training process and/or it needs to keep people’s interest, you may want to consider having it professionally produced.

How Much Should My Budget Be?

There are some types of videos that just have to be professionally produced. For instance, if you want to produce a promotional video to market your products or services to the public, you definitely want this to be professional, engaging and motivating. This is the case no matter what your ‘delivery mechanism’, be it DVD, CD-ROM or Internet. Our rule of thumb is that if your production needs to look professional and it’s targeted to the public or other businesses, it needs to be professionally produced.

Though the tools to produce video are relatively inexpensive, there is a high skill set that goes into producing a polished production. Similar to when the word processor appeared and some felt that they could become the next Ernest Hemmingway, today, some people believe that they can produce professional videos using the relatively inexpensive tools of the trade available on the market today. However there is a big difference between cameras, editing software, and other hardware that goes into determining the quality of the final product.

For instance, the average person probably won’t be spending $10,000+ for a broadcast quality camera package (camera, lights, lens, audio, etc.) to shoot the video or another $5000-$10,000 for a professional editing system. Plus, the typical person doesn’t have the time or experience to produce a professional video, just as I wouldn’t attempt to tune my car’s engine, even if the equipment was readily available.

So let’s assume that you want to hire a company. What do you look for? If you don’t mind, I’d like to fill in some of the answerers to these questions as we go along:

How long has the company been producing video? (Who, us? 20 years. Video One was established in 1987).
Who are some of their clients? (Ours include Microsoft, American Express, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Oracle and other Fortune 500 and smaller companies)
Ask for samples of their work. (We happen to have some video production and video editing samples).
How quickly can they turn your job around? (Video One has experienced producers who know how to move the process along, provide our clients with as much or as little input as they prefer, and get the job done in a timely, cost-efficient manner).
How interested will they be in you after the sale? (Video One is always on hand to answer questions of any kind, whether it’s for your current project, a past project, or of course, future projects).