Advice for new Webmasters

So you want to make a million dollars in the industry, eh? Gonna do it fast. Gonna get out of the corporate rat race. Well, here are some of the things I did right and some of the things I did wrong. The wrong list is much longer than the right list, but I'll start with the right.

The right computer

If you want to edit your own videos, be smart. Buy an external hard drive with a couple hundred gigabytes of drive space. Buy a backup device that can back up at least 30 gigs of data at a time. You'll need it. Make sure you have a minimum of a gig of memory and the fastest computer you can buy. Don't go cheap. You'll regret it. Buy the best on the market. You'll be glad after you start editing.

The right software

Buy good video editing software. Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premier Pro are both great packages for a starter who wants to earn money editing videos. You can get lower-end stuff that is easier to use -- usually it comes with capture cards -- but keep in mind you're going to need to create nested clips, promo clips; you're going to need titles and graphics and you may need to edit clips multiple times; you're going to need to tweak color and brightness; you'll need pro transitions from scene to scene. You may need to add soundtracks. Better software makes these tasks easier. Easy-to-use software gets harder to use the more you demand from it.

Lights, camera

Get the right equipment and learn how to use it. Buy what's known as a "prosumer" video camera, get a good set of lights,

get good microphones. Read a book or two on how to use these things. You'll be glad you did. The Sony PDF-150 is a good entry level camera. Buy a wide angle lens and a tripod. You need the tripod for steady shots for the web. The steadier the shot, the better it looks on the Web.

Action

Figure out what you want to film and film it. If you go through an agency for models, insist on interviewing the models yourself. Don't ask what they want to do. Tell them what you want. Make it clear you will not shoot unless they do the shoot as you want it done. Most models are great and very professional. You will be surprised. But keep in mind, just like anyone else, if they can agree to provide a high level of service and then get paid the same price for a lower level of service, they will do it. Make sure, before you ever turn on your camera, that they will do what you want them to do, that they are capable of doing it. Do not deal with drug addicts or alcoholics. Keep a clean set, regardless of what you do in your personal life. If someone gets hurt, which is a real possibility, you want to be able to call for medical help without worrying about legal complications.

DVDs are a hard sell

Don't assume you'll find a distributor for your DVDs. Assume you'll have to start out marketing them yourself, that you'll sell them from a Web site or you'll forgo DVDs altogether at first and simply stream videos from a Web site.

Be legal

Talk to an attorney. Find out what the laws are in your state. Realize that putting a DVD in the mail is the biggest risk you'll ever take (once you put something in the mail, you are subject to the laws of whatever state it winds up in; the laws in Georgia are a tad more restrictive than the ones in Nevada, my friends). Get your 2257 stuff in order. You need a close-up picture of every model's ID. And you need a picture of her social security card. You need a picture of her holding both of those next to her face. You need a model release form. You need to print all this stuff and file it in the order of your shoots. Failure to do so can land you in jail for a minimum of two years, just for a paperwork violation. This is serious, very serious business. Be careful. Be smart.

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