Hayley Akins

Do you want to find out all about tax for creatives from me? Of course you do! If you're new to creative business/arts practice, or if tax is generally a great big mystery, this is the free webinar for you. It's super friendly, very basic, and designed specifically for those of us working in the arts. Come and join me, it will be *fun! (* please note - 'fun' is definitely within the context of anything to do with tax).

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Hmmmm. Is it social proof if the clients name has been scrubbed out? I’m seeing a lot of images like the one below shared from Linkeded lead gen gurus But with one major difference The ‘clients’ name is ALWAYS scrubbed out. ….and usually the client talks in language that nobody outside of marketing uses “I got three inbound leads” It’s very, very suspicious. It could be that they are protecting their clients identity (although I can’t think why) More likely that they are creating the conversations using one of many online tools. Like my conversation with Ron Burgundy below. FYI - those Stripe payment dashboards they like to post showing their £20k months are also easily faked. Stay classy LinkedIn.

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I've had a few people reach out to me now and ask for advice about becoming a freelance captioner/subtitler. And my answer is always the same... Don't. I think the glory days of freelance SDH creation have passed. The years 2006 to 2021 were incredible when it came to volumes of work, rates being paid and whatnot, but now, not so much. ASR means more productivity in-house. More productivity in-house means less overflow. Less overflow means less work for freelancers. And what overflow there is, it'll be offered up in-house first. ASR also means a lower rate, because companies are now offsetting the cost of ASR script creation with the reduction in rates. This is the evolution of our industry, and at the end of the day, the bottom line of vendors is the driving force here. Yeah, it's sad, but it's been on the horizon for the last decade, and it's only going to get "worse" from here.

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Here's my plan. ⬇️ If you're reading this, please hold me accountable and check-in for progress reports. ✅ I ask because I ALWAYS put my own projects to the bottom of the pile... ...so for the future of Wilde Studios Ltd and all those we'll be able to help - this one is SUPER important. Drum roll please 🥁 Wilde Studios are producing our first in-house YouTube channel. 😮 I'll tell you what it's about in a second, but first - lesson time. When you build a YouTube channel you have to remember it's not primarily about you or your business - it's about the value you provide to the viewer. 💷 Once you know who your ideal viewer is and what value you're adding, the whole process becomes a lot easier. So, on that note, the aim of our channel is to provide a safe space of guidance, support and light entertainment to help creative graduates navigate the chasmous mist that is life after university. We'll be leaning on my own experiences, my failures, wins and not so sures. We'll also be bringing on persons of interest to share a little of their expertise. On other episodes I'll be talking directly to those in that in-between space and seeing if I can help guide them in a positive direction. Even if it's just switching off Netflix for the first time in 3 days. If it sounds like something you'd like to be part of, where you feel like you can provide some valuable insights or maybe you'd like some free one to one advice from a 30 year old intrapreneur turned entrepreneur - please get in touch. There is more of a plan than that but I'm sure you get the jist. If I haven't uploaded anything by 23:59 June 30th 2024, you can pick one of my precious tie collection to bin, burn or donate to a good cause. And I friggin love my tie collection. 👔 😍

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Does anyone else get distracted with seeing this clipped near someone’s neck in a video? Microphone placement is a key part of any video production. Here are a few of my rules for capturing audio: 1) Never let the mic distract from the story being told. 2)Know the strengths and weaknesses of your equipment. eg.) Different mics have different directional patterns. Proper placement in the wrong direction can affect frequencies. 3) Always record audio with at least 2 sources. (In case anything happens to one source). 4) Do a sound test before each take and make sure you’re comfortable with what you’re hearing. 5) Make sure to press record and watch the timer start before assuming it’s recording.

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As you might know, my ‘getting stuff done’ capacity in the well-oiled business empire that is Natalie Cooper (ha!) has been greatly enhanced by Amazing Alice.™ Pretty much everything about the voiceover industry is new to Alice, and it’s been refreshing to look at the industry through her eyes. I’m a big fan of the concept of soshin aka ‘beginner's mind’ and I thought it might be fun to introduce you to Alice and to share some of her questions here to get back to basics. This week Alice asked…”What makes a voiceover good at radio commercials?” 📖 They read to time. 📖 Commercials are generally a fixed length - usually 30 seconds, but sometimes 10, 20, or 40. Rarely 60 seconds, although it’s a popular option in the US. It’s not uncommon for scripts to be overwritten, with too many words for that container of time. Or on the odd, blissful, occasion underwritten. Sometimes, filling extra space can feel more challenging than shoehorning a lot of words in. 👀They’re able to sight read. 👀I personally love jobs where I get a surprise script dropped into a session. With no time to overthink it, that first take can often be “the one”. It gives me a buzz, but sight reading (aka ‘cold reading’) can be daunting for some. 🤐 They know when to shut up. 🤐 Harsh but fair, a proper chat is lovely but a good commercial voiceover knows that producers can be busy. Read the (virtual) room. 🎬 They take direction. 🎬 No-one likes a know-it-all! The producer may already know what they need from you and that’s why they booked you. Listen to direction regardless of what you think, remain flexible, and if there’s time, you can always offer a different read. Above all, don’t slag off the script - if it’s, ahem, quirky, trust that the producer knows and feels the same. 🫡 They answer the producer’s requests with "yes, of course." 🫡 Good old flexibility again. Being able to think on the spot and problem-solve really does go a long way. The only exception to “yes, of course” is when the question is fee-based, in which case, do your research and know your worth. 🎉Last but not least… They enjoy themselves. 🎉 Have fun, after all, how often do you get to interact with a lovely creative human these days.

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Is it a new studio without an official studio tour? Either way, it doesn’t matter now - here’s a studio tour! I'll show you around the video podcast studio, production floor, board room, and my personal office (must be nice!). It's a bit of a different style video, behind the scenes of where we do what we do. Usually I link out to the video on YouTube, but this one makes sense to just drop here. However - it’s all on YT too if you want to head over there (and like, subscribe etc etc etc). Also, while I’m a big fan of video studio tours, a real life one is always better. So let me know if you want to drop in and say hi! #videoproduction #contentmarketing #studiotour

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I don't just work with pictures... I've also picked up some pretty epic tips about how to make written information more accessible and inclusive. So, I thought I'd give you all a Monday morning present and share these with you! Grab yourself a cuppa, a blanket (why is it so cold!?) and enjoy the video. If you would prefer a transcript version with a video description, please message me or comment below and I will send you a copy. And of course, if you've got any feedback or questions, let me know in the comments. I'd love to chat with you! #AccessibilityMatters #InclusiveDesign #AnimationDesign #AnimationDrawing

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The duration of a video doesn’t determine the cost to create. It’s a common misconception that in the video production world, a “short video” = cheaper than a longer one. Not always true. Take the annual John Lewis Christmas ad for example. Just 30 seconds long. But costs £Millions in production. Why? It involves a lot of moving parts, resources, creative development, multiple crew and filming days, location hire, specialist equipment, actors, voice-over, music composition, visual FX, etc. Whereas a relatively simple sit-down interview with some compelling supporting footage of your business/products, could be 3 minutes in duration, but cost just a few £k. It all depends on the creative elements and resources that go into your production, and the result you need for your available budget.

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Ding Ding Ding! 🔔 (That the new work bell, btw) Delighted to finally get to show the new video for a new client Redinet Limited. And what a lovely project it has been! The great thing about making testimonial videos is that everyone is saying lovely stuff all the time. Whether it's to camera or if its off camera, with people trying to work out what should be said. It’s just good bloody vibes! Big shout out to Moore (South) and Julie Sinsbury. You can very much tell that they adore working with Redinet and it certainly makes it easy for me. When you are filming someone speak passionately and truthfully there really isn’t a great deal of work to do to polish it up in post! That’s the main thing that shines though is that authenticity, which is so important in a testimonial video to help create that social proof. It shows that your business is loved by your clients. They can't win without you and your successes are intertwined. You just can’t beat a real story! Also a pleasure to work with Redinet suppliers WatchGuard Technologies. Those lovely red boxes are very photogenic! Also thanks to James M. and Mike Beeson for making this happen. It’s been a pleasure working and spending time with you guys. This is the 1st of a series of 4 filmes. More to come! #videography #testimonials #testimonialvideo #IT #authenticity #accountants

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I love seeing results roll in from a new WhatsApp campaign! Client just called me and in the week that the campaign has been live, leads have doubled when compared with using the previous capture details form! 👍 But we don’t just leave it at that! We discussed tweaks (to the first message for example!), conditions and nudges to get those numbers even better! No idea how this work but intrigued whether it could work for your business? If you need to attract consumers in any way then message me and I’ll show you how you can use WhatsApp to do this! #whatsappbusiness #marketingideas

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One of the biggest challenges I find in running a business is the impact of things which are out of your control. The last few months I've seen so many posts and comments from other production companies saying how tough it's been. For us, after a run of really strong performing months, October was definitely quieter than I'm comfortable with (I have a high comfort threshold). Over the past year we seem to have started to see these patches of industry wide slumps where the demand for work dips off for a lot of people in a way that I don't remember seeing before. And I then try to work out what's behind it and what we can do about it. And the answer is...no idea! I guess maybe economic conditions? Worry about what the budget might bring? Fallout from a chaotic US election campaign? AI fearmongering? And can I control any of those? Sadly in my backpack of superpowers I haven't been able to find the power to control global socio-economic trends. And then November comes and we have a deluge of enquiries and one of our most exciting new client wins of the year🤷🏽‍♂️. So the moral of the story is...running a business is chaos, stuff happens, focus on what you can control not what you can't, live laugh love, dance in the rain etc etc.

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Are you your industry’s ‘best kept secret’? I’ve heard so many people describe their business that way, but it’s actually not a great thing. It means you’re missing out on clients. Even if you’re busy, more enquiries would mean you can pick and choose the ones you want! You’re fantastic. Why not shout it from the rooftops? #marketing #visibility #opportunities

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What does doing work for free actually accomplish? I received another one of many mass mail BD approaches yesterday, no different from any other day. However, one caught my eye for a slightly different reason. The email was from an individual who was selling development services, with the main offer being "40 hours of free web or software development services for Unorthodox." Obviously, I wouldn’t ever accept an offer of free work from someone; it’s not something I believe in with regard to maintaining proper, sustainable working relationships. But there are likely companies out there that will take this person up on their offer! And the question remains: After that 40 hours of work, where do you go from there with regard to charging and maintaining respect for your services? Is a relationship built purely off money, as opposed to value, a sustainable one? In my opinion, the answer is no. This is a good lesson, I feel, for a lot of freelancers and companies alike about the kind of ways you are doing business development. Successful business development is not just about purely price-based wins; it’s about offering solutions and how you can make someone’s life easier. We spent months on this when starting Unorthodox. That same person could have written me another email offering a solution to something I needed and charging a lot of money, and I would have taken them up on it just as fast, if not faster, than if it was free. Understanding your audience and solution is the only thing that matters. If the problem you are solving is large enough, people will snap your hand off. If I have a leak, a plumber can name their price; I need my leak fixed! For freelancers: - Offer more than just being a bum on a seat. That market is disappearing; now you need to offer more than that. Think about the work YOU want to do and how you can provide value to companies in those sectors. For brands and agencies: - Be innovative with your offerings for clients. Are you really any different? More specifically, can you leverage skill sets you don’t have in-house more effectively? How do you brief artists/partners and onboard people? How do you work with clients to siphon all the information you need for briefs effectively? Etc. The way things are, just offering money off solves nothing in the long term. Educate people about the skill set and problems you solve to garner more respect. You might convert less, but the conversions will be much more meaningful. Just my 2 cents Unorthodox #Thoughtpftheday #Industryinsight #contentproduction

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Would you like to chat about design with Monish Khara from Toil Studio? Today is your lucky day.

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Are you trying to be too clever? A lot of companies try to either show their biggest and best projects, talk in their industries logo, or just give out high level knowledge. By doing this they feel like they're showing potential clients how good they are. When in a lot of cases they could just either be alienating a large selection of their potential client base, positioning themselves in the market poorly, or just going over people's heads. This is why you can get ahead of a lot of the competition by doing a step a lot of them miss......... Actually learning who your ideal client is, what they value, and what help they need achieving that value.

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Client: New project brief. Can you hit this deadline? Videographer: Yeah sure 👀 (without the faintest idea if its possible). We’ve all been there.. We know we’re going to be busy, But there are so many projects on the go that who knows where it will all land, And we hate turning away work! So we decide to say yes, and figure it out later. Then find ourselves beyond breaking point for the next six weeks as we fight fires and try not to cry most days. .. So, what's the solution? Project management software often falls short (or requires more manual time than we have available), Manually project managing this on Google Calendar is horrendously time consuming. So how do YOU go about this? No, I'm genuinely asking. And/Or would you be interested in a tool that gives you visibility of multiple project commitments at once? I'd love to hear in DM's or comments 🙂 (Considering playing around with a solution). --- I'm Andrew, I built and sold my video production company. Now I’m mentoring video co owners to build their dream life. Like this post? Want to see more? 🔝 Connect with me 📧 Message me to enquire about mentoring #videoproduction #videoproductioncompany

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Are Video Production Agencies Essentially All The Same? Err... Honestly? - Yeah... No? Sort of... 🤷‍♂️ I'm not sure about you, but from my perspective, looking at all the folk on here who essentially offer the same services as I do, it's hard to ignore the fact that everyone pretty much sounds the same. Data driven. ☑ Digital first. ☑ Passionate. ☑ Experienced. ☑ Creative. ☑ Bold. ☑ Blah. ☑ Blah. ☑ Blah. ☑ So what is there really between one agency and another? Very few clients are actually willing to take any major creative risks these days (perhaps a side effect of "data driven"?) and rarely run something the likes of which has never been seen before. So ultimately, many forms (though not all) of video that brands and companies pay for are essentially some sort of reworking of a trend or category of video that either happens to be doing the rounds at the time or has been part of the fabric of video usage for years (homepage/explainer/testimonial/event highlight video...). And so, conceptually, there isn't a great deal of variance in what's being made. And hey! I'm not necessarily knocking it (at least not in this post). If it ain't broke, and all that... But that being the case, how do you, the client, decide on who to go with? Does it even matter? Everyone you look at will tell you they are brilliant at everything. Of course they will. Makes sense. They'll all list a bunch of clients they've worked with and proudly proclaim they're oh so different because they have a zany logo that represents their cheeky (Plucky?) personality and all that good stuff. But, in my humble opinion, what really matters, at the end of the day, when all's said and done, when the chips are down and they blow the final whistle... is taste. Do you like their work? Look at what they've made before and ask... "do I want a piece if that?" Pick an artist who's style you dig baby. An agency who's funk and flavour fits your brand's identity. Someone who you can sit back and trust, with excited anticipation, to go away and deliver the goods for you because you've chosen them to do what they already do. Ignore the rest of it. These days anyone who's worth their salt is creating work that references data and trends and formats video to be "digital first". Yawn. Instead I'd suggest focussing on finding someone who you jive with. Naturally. By design. Who you don't need to micro manage and creatively supervise 24/7 because you're cut from the same cloth. Pick up the phone to a few different companies. Hear the whites of their eyes. And go with your gut. Or don't. What do I know?!

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