This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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A Missoula videographer redefines remote filming. Welcome to Throwback Thursday, welcome friends. Welcome to Side Hustle School as well. That's the podcast, episode 3,036, 3,000 plus episodes. In today's, we're gonna take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them.
That's the part of Throwback Thursday. And last week in the segment we heard from a side hustler who built a spring break site, like information about spring break in Florida and other locations, that soars to $8,000 during peak months, making $8,000 a month during those peak spring break months. I was gonna say summer months, but I guess it's actually before that. He does that by combining ad networks with carefully edited AI content. Today in our latest feature, we'll hear from a pro videographer based in Montana.
He ditches travel hassles by mailing filming kits around the world, around the country, and I think maybe some clients internationally as well, and directing online course shoots entirely from afar. So this is pretty cool. What has happened since we first featured him, his name is John. Let's hear the story from John. I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up.
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I'm John, a videographer based in Missoula, Montana. When I first got into the industry, I assumed I'd need to live near a big city to stay busy. LA, New York, maybe somewhere in Texas. But then the pandemic changed the game. My clients scattered across the country suddenly couldn't meet me on set or fly me out for shoots.
I improvised. I started mailing them carefully curated boxes of gear and directing each shoot live over video calls, all from my home office in Missoula. The initial request came from a fitness instructor in Atlanta who needed polished footage for her online course, but couldn't bring a videographer on site. I offered to ship her a DSLR camera, a few LED light panels and a wireless mic. We scheduled a video call and I walked her through positioning the camera, adjusting angles and testing audio.
After a few tweaks, the shot on my monitor looked as if I were right there in our home studio. It felt surreal, me and Missoula surrounded by mountains directing a high intensity workout shoot in Atlanta without stepping outside. But the footage was great. So I repeated the process with a cooking instructor in Seattle, then a wellness coach in Florida. Each time I refined my instructions, making them more foolproof.
I developed short video tutorials too. So if a client lost the manual or needed a refresher, they could just scan a QR code. Before going remote, I'd spend days or weeks traveling for a single gig. Now I don't need to book flights or lug a bunch of gear through airports. Clients get to film in their own spaces, on their own schedules.
They don't have to worry about hosting a stranger or coordinating a full production crew. I guide them live over Zoom, giving real time feedback on lighting, framing and performance. Once we wrap, they pack up the gear using the same boxes and shipping labels I provided. And it all comes back to me. No fuss, no frantic searching for a local rental house.
I handle final edits in my home office where I've got all the time in the world to perfect color grading or cut together the best takes. Operating out of Montana might have sounded limiting in the old days, but now it's actually an advantage. My overhead is lower and I can attract clients from anywhere. A corporate trainer in Toronto, a yoga studio in Austin, an entrepreneur in London. They find me online through referral, social media or word of mouth.
And we schedule a date for the shoot. As long as the mail can reach them, we can work together. I didn't expect shipping cameras around the world to become my core business model, but it's proven to be both efficient and lucrative. I'm no longer tethered to a particular city or travel schedule. My clients love the flexibility and the cost savings.
And whenever someone asks if being based in Montana holds me back, I just smile and say, not anymore. Well, this is one of those post pandemic success stories that just kind of keeps on going. You know, a lot of things changed a few years ago. And then of course, some things reverted, once the pandemic was over, but some things had kind of changed permanently, right? And we see that with remote work in lots of ways.
And with this guy's story, it's not like he couldn't have done this before, right? There were no technical limitations. He could have started it 10 years ago, but there just wasn't quite an acceptance of it. It would have been kind of strange or unusual. And now it's just kind of neat, right?
Now it's kind of like, oh, well, that makes sense. I mean, it's kind of different, but I can see how it works, right? So good for him on being able to build this out in a way that suits his needs. You know, a lot of people like to travel and other people just don't want to travel. You got to figure out what's best for you.
You got to figure out what is the side hustle that's going to serve my needs? How much do I want to grow that versus keeping it as a business of one? How many other projects do I want to take on? These are all kind of, you know, the general questions of life that you want to answer. And as I said, you want to answer them in a way that serves your needs.
So think about that. As you think about your side hustle ideas and whatever it is you're working on, thanks to John for sharing his updates with us. Let me know what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives of thousands of episodes, sidehustleschool.com, some resources, some notes there, of course, a new episode every single day, always completely free. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School.
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From the Onward Project.
