A new website launch might seem slightly off-topic for a blog post of mine, but stick with me – these updates are going to make planning your next video a lot easier, even if you don’t work with me!

How is that possible? Don’t worry, I can explain.

One of the biggest challenges new clients face when we start working together is that they don’t have a clear idea of what they want their video to look like or what story they want it to tell.

Of course, I don’t blame them for this! It’s incredibly difficult to take on a project outside your area of expertise; you have no idea where to start. What are the possibilities? What are the pros and cons? How do you measure success?

If you speak with a number of vendors to try to get some answers to these questions, chances are they’ll all tell you something different. This could be because they have different approaches, or it could be because each of them took something a little different away from your five-minute introductory conversation. Explaining what you need is hard, especially when you aren’t familiar with film and/or marketing concepts and terminology or know what details are important to include. Even with everyone doing their best, there’s an inherent challenge in trying to quickly get on the same page.

But what can you do? You have to move forward. So, you pick a focus, choose a type of video, a story, a format, and start getting quotes. You even pick a vendor, though you may not be very confident that you’re making the right choice.

When the video is complete, it might be great – or it might not be what you were looking for at all. But do you know exactly where the miscommunication happened?

Do you think you’ve learned enough by going through this process that you can do better the next time around, or will it be a whole lot of trial and error all over again?

With my new website, I’ve tried to eliminate this kind of uncertainty. Or at least, I’ve taken a first stab at it. As I get more feedback from clients, I’ll continue to improve and adjust, trying to make this process run as smoothly as possible.

What's my solution?

Head over to the “my services” section of seriofilms.com and take a look. As you can see, instead of displaying a portfolio of random past projects , my website works to direct you to the “right” video through a series of selections.

Let’s say, for example, that you already know that fundraising is the primary goal of your project. In that case, you can go straight to the fundraising service page. There, you’ll find a number of categories, each one describing a different aspect of the fundraising experience.

Are you hosting a dinner or running a crowdfunding campaign? Are you trying to attract new donors or trying to improve your relationship with your alumni? Do you have no clue what you should be doing to improve your annual numbers? There’s a page for that.

By outlining all these categories for you, it’s my intention to sharpen and clarify your sense of what you want and need. By browsing and making a choice, you’ll immediately be in a better position to articulate why you’re here and what you hope to achieve.

Next, within each category, you’ll find a few different types of videos that I believe are best suited to the goal you selected, a list that I put together based on my 15+ years of experience working in the nonprofit industry. Each video comes with a description, a sample, and even approximate pricing, and each category comes with an FAQ, so you can really get a sense of what you’d be getting into.

If nothing on a given page speaks to you, you can continue to browse and see what possibilities are available and what kind of costs you’re looking at. When you share this page with your team, they can access the information directly, so no important details are lost in a game of telephone with the vendor.

And when you’re ready to speak, just fill out the form and pick a time for your call.

Even if you don’t ultimately choose to work with me, I really believe that going through this process can be helpful for anyone. Learning what’s out there allows you to narrow down what you do and don’t want; educating yourself on the difference between videos enables you to make informed, strategic decisions about your marketing.

And if you have any questions, I’m happy to explain further.

Go on! Take a look and let me know what you think.