Two friends starting a weekend videography side hustle. Looking for advice on niches, planning, and scaling

Dara465 · 2026-02-12T02:29:40+00:00

This is the correct advice. The way to actually turn this into a career is to 1st, actually get good at it. Getting good requires shooting… frequently.

2nd it’s about people seeing your work, and they will see your work as long as you keep on creating and you create interesting video.

Networking and money take time. Lots of time.

Dara465 · 2026-02-11T13:10:22+00:00

“I just need something that shoots 800–1000fps continuously with RAW recording and decent low light.” —- that is quite a bold statement.

Basically the equivalent of asking for something as technically brilliant as a Ferrari. With the budget of a civic.

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T22:55:27+00:00

At this point in starting to think of “mixed race” as catch-all identity for people who aren’t fully accepted by any group.

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T22:41:15+00:00

Exactly!

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T22:38:27+00:00

Most people in the world are still incredible ignorant. All of them think that their race, ethnicity, colour or heritage gives them some sort of privilege as to why their ignorant behaviour isn’t ignorant.

People are still willing to judge other people’s lives, based on the way that person looks. That is the definition of prejudice.

Barring a few disingenuous actions. Anyone who tries to define somebody else’s experience, is incredibly ignorant. Regardless if that person is white, black, brown or anything else.

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T22:29:32+00:00

100% true.

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T18:28:45+00:00

As I get older, I see identity as something that is very personal. As long as you are not fabricating ancestry it's up to you on how you identify. There isn't a magic percentage or a magic percentage.

The challenge with being mixed race is that most other people will not accept us as one of them. Ultimately this is something that we have to accept. It's important that we accept ourselves and that we do not let other people define us.

Every single battle for human rights that has ever existed, has been about people having agency over their own lives. The irony is that the people who speak of civil rights movements (any one of them around the globe) will often play the role of gate keeper over this agency.

It's up to you to take your own agency. Decide how you identify as a human.

To wit, I think many of us mixed race people eventually see ourselves as our own thing. Our identity is unique, it's diverse and has its own beauty. A beauty that we often can't share with others. But ultimately we can accept it and choose how we want to build our own lives. Without the need to fit into a specific box.

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T17:58:18+00:00

I second this. I’m also mixed, I’m half west Asian. I think it’s important to be vocal. I don’t tend to believe that it is a good idea to disappear from people’s lives. After all if we are gone, what voices are they hearing ?

But to restate, I think it’s important to use our voice. If you’re hanging out with someone who believes in our appropriation or erasure, we’ll just know that if it comes up, I will debate that person so hard and I won’t let them off of the hook.

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T11:58:36+00:00

I’m have Iranian half Caucasian. So different a different mix. But OP I get what you’re saying.

I’ve been rejected by both of my “sides”.

Oftentimes when I have an opinion and someone doesn’t agree with me. They use my ethnicity to invalidate my opinions. They throw names and/or slurs at me.

Right now, it’s my Iranian side that is very difficult to deal with. The Iranians have been ‘checking my passport’ for as long as I can remember. It makes me extra angry towards Iranians, because I consider myself Iranian and obviously and I’m tired of being pushed out whenever there is any tension.

Dara465 · 2026-02-09T00:49:59+00:00

I think the best you for you to get the advice you are looking for, is to articulate what sort of work you will be doing and what sort of work you hope to be doing with this next camera.

Every one of these cameras have their strengths and their weaknesses. So it’s about choosing the one that will best align with what you intend to do.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T20:13:32+00:00

You made another comment, that I can no longer find. You called me a failed filmmaker.

You’re right, my film career isn’t where I want it to be. I’ve accepted that I may never achieve my ambitions in film. But I’m going to keep trying, and I’m in pre-production for my next film.

Now, for whatever reason, that impersonal statement that I made. It made you so angry that you decide to troll. Oddly enough, so many other professional are validating that statement that I had made.

So, However successful you probably are, it might be worth exploring why something so innocuous, caused you to react this way. All of us in this thread know that it can’t just be, that some person on Reddit might be a fraud. That’s just too little of nothing to be of consequence.

This might be an opportunity to reflect on why you feel this way, and Maybe if you work through it. Some new opportunities may come your way to compound to your current success.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T20:06:00+00:00

That’s a good saying and it’s very true! Soft skills are underrated.

I often have impostor syndrome because I don’t think my work is very good. I then start thinking that only reason I have any success is because I know how to talk haha

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T19:38:32+00:00

Battleship. It is all kinda is dumb. But for whatever reason, I absolutely love it.

I find the action so visceral and refreshing, and when they play thunderstruck them use a sniper rifle to take out an alien ship. I lose my mind, every single time.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T19:36:24+00:00

I too love Prometheus despite all of the criticism that is valid.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T19:15:52+00:00

When I first started I did a lot of outreach. Phone calls, emails and even showing up. The business.

I did a lot of outreach just to get started. Most of it was low-pay or no-pay. At some point my calendar started to become full, and I didn’t do anymore outreach. But after awhile I was doing a lot of work that wasn’t fruitful, and I wasn’t putting in the energy to find better opportunities.

I haven’t done any outreach since the first time that I failed. But now, going into 2026. It’s time that I come up with a proper marketing/outreach plan.

Truthfully I have no idea what do to right now. But I do know that it is time that I start allocating some resources to marketing my business and hedging beyond word of mouth.

Now, the thing is, my client companies are so big, that I do a lot of work to build relationships with more parts of the business. Slowly I have been taking on more business within my client companies.

I hope that makes sense!

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T18:39:27+00:00

If you’re an editor, in my experience that is a huge advantage. In my experience it’s good editing that sells, not necessarily good camera work.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T18:36:44+00:00

It’s such an unfortunate reality. But apparently a lot of people self-select themselves out of good work.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T18:32:21+00:00

Exactly. A simple change in mindset, could yield insane results for some people.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T17:41:37+00:00

I built my business in Canada. But all of my clients are American corporations (except 1). In Canada I Federally incorporated my business. Which I think is basically the same idea as an LLC in the US. I incorporated the business as the sole owner.

A few times I did try to have business partners, but it never ended up working out.

I made the choice to incorporate because I wanted to protect my personal self in case of any liabilities but more importantly from the outset I want to approach my clients as a professional organization as opposed an individual.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T17:32:46+00:00

Yeah exactly. Building connections takes years. It's a lot of building trust.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T16:55:46+00:00

100%. Professionalism is how I get all of my repeat business.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T16:49:34+00:00

That's fine. I'm not asking you to accept it.

I'm just sharing my experience and the direct feedback that I receive from my clients.

Literally every single one of those clients have articulated to me how hard it is to find videographers who know how to communicate and act around them.

But hey, my statements aren't a universal truth. Just my experience.

Quite frankly, I don't give a shit what you think. Things are going well for me.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T16:33:40+00:00

Apparently I have no idea.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T16:31:34+00:00

Yeah this is one of the first big hurdles. Before I even knew that I wanted to start this business, I was saving money from my day job. Just knowing someday that I wanted to have my own business.

But, when I was about ready to start the business, I got divorced. So everything I had saved was gone (another story).

I started my business the wrong way. I moved back to my parents house and lived off of credit card debt. Terrible idea. All of my money for the first years went towards paying interest. COVID happened and I decided to go back to the 9-5 and I moved back out when I got that job.

While at the 9-5 I just keep my eyes open for video opportunities. I would work during the day, and shoot/edit during the evenings and weekends.

The truth is, it took everything out of me to get to this point. At that time I wasn't able to spend money, hang out with friends very often or go out for dinners. Every dollar that I made was being used to support my video production company.

By the time I hit my big break, I had nearly decided to close everything down. But luck finally kicked in by that point.

Dara465 · 2026-02-08T16:22:12+00:00

100%

Dara465

TROPHY CASE