I'm Tom and welcome to my site.

Where Do I Start?
GET YOUR FREE 28-PAGE EBOOK NOW
Want to learn how I went from writing nearly nothing to writing thousands of words a month?

($37 value). Read more here.

Enter your email address here for free updates and your free eBook. (Guaranteed 100% privacy.)


Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz
E-Book Testimonials

"Thomas Clifford has made something useful here. This report will give you some really catchy, useful ideas.

It made me reconsider how I do what I do, so you might give it a look-see, too!" 

Chris Brogan, President, Human Business Works 

"Tom Clifford is by trade a filmmaker. For most of his life, he rarely wrote anything longer than a brief comment in the margin of a script. 

Now, though, he's producing tens of thousands of words a year, first as a Fast Company "Expert Blogger," and then as a writer for the Content Marketing Institute. 

How did Tom go from a non-writer to a prolific and much-read one? His eBook, '5 (Ridiculously Simple) Ways . . . , ' holds some of his secrets."

Mark Levy, Author of "Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content"

“Tom is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet—if you have the privilege to meet him. And he does sterling work as well. But don’t just take my word for it.

Read this free report and you’ll not just love its tone and content, but learn a lot as well.”

Sean D’Souza, Psychotactics.com

“Anyone who wants to improve their writing needs this e-book. A lot of ebooks are short because they just don’t have much substance to offer. They’re not worth your time (and so are many of the long ones, too, for that matter). Tom’s is short because he’s so good at giving you only what you need to know. 

‘5 (Ridiculously Simple) Ways to Write Faster, Better, Easier’ lives up to its promise by example as well as in the words themselves. Tom used the very same techniques he teaches you to write this book. 

And what’s in here is not just a rehash of the same tired ideas you find coming from people who have suddenly fancied themselves as writing gurus. There are tricks in here I never heard of (like the Writing Funnel) and some I had forgotten about and was glad to be reminded of (like Sporadic Writing).” 

Michael Martine, Blog Alchemist, Remarkablogger.com 


« My Interview on Personal Branding Blog | Main | Looking for Links on Story, Marketing and Pop Culture? »
Saturday
Feb092008

One Email No Video Client Should Ever Write

DateSaturday, February 9, 2008 at 04:44PM

Wait.jpg

Imagine this.

You're thinking about building a new home. You decide to send an email to a general contractor. You write a note that goes something like this...

"I'd like to have a new home built. How much would it cost to build a home with six rooms, two bathrooms, a small garage, and a nice yard? Please tell me how long will it take to build it. Thank you."

It's pretty likely you won't get a response that is helpful or accurate. And chances are it won't move your vision forward.

Believe it not, I've seen emails like this requesting how much a video project will cost. So have many other producers.

The simple solution, of course, is to pickup the phone and call a producer. Share your idea to see if your vision can be turned into an opportunity.

When it comes time to begin a new video project, a model worth considering comes from marketing expert and Fast Company writer, Nick Rice. Nick has a fabulous riff on determining the reality of an opportunity. Nick calls it "The Opportunity Framework."

Nick's framework has three components.

1. Determine if there is a real problem that needs to be solved.
2. Determine if there is an opportunity to move the project forward.
3. Determine if enough resources are available.

I think this is a great framework to quickly evaluate weather or not to move the conversation forward.

Send an email?

I've found most filmmakers love a good conversation :-)

---Tom

P.S. This post was inspired by another headline challenge from Brian Clark over at Copyblogger.

P.S.S. Brian's first headline challenge inspired "My 22 Best On-Camera Interviewing Tips Ever" also featured on LIfehacker.

AuthorThomas Clifford | CommentPost a Comment |
Print ArticlePrint Article in , , , ,

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.
Alert
Comment Moderation Enabled
Hi, it's Tom here. Your comment will not appear until it has been cleared by me. So... 1. Keep it nice. 2. Keep it clean. 3. Keep it on topic. And thanks a lot for stopping by!

Notify me of follow-up comments via email.