As the saying goes, “Long time lurker, first-time poster”
I am starting a small, one-man recorded interviewing business. I will be conducting audio recorded personal histories, reflections and stories for families and individuals as a way of both preserving memories and communicating information between people who may be estranged or living far apart. While oral histories will be a focus, I expect the application to be much broader and I hope to record people talking about important issues to them that either have sentimental or practical value (e.g. a living will, audio letter, important lessons or instructions, work/career reflections, etc.).
Essentially I will be conducting the interviews (or conversations) in person and providing a high-quality digital and CD copy to the interviewee (or whomever he she/designates). I will have different interview topics that people may choose from, but everything will be customized and dependent on the interviewee and the topics we cover. Some interviews may be one session, others multiple sessions, it all depends.
I want to have a ballpark rate I should charge for a one-hour interview. What would you be willing to pay for this service, assuming there is someone in your life who would be willing to sit down and talk? What value do you think this product would have? (Remember there is additional time involved for basic editing of the interview)
What are some creative names for this business? I don’t want something that implies memories or the past only, or that suggests it is a product geared towards older folks. Also want to avoid something corporate/healthcare sounding or something overly sentimental. Here is what I have so far, none of which are really compelling:
To Listen is to Live
Telling Stories for Life
Speaking on Life (LifeSpeak?)
Any feedback on price, name or other ideas related to this business would be greatly appreciated.
Simpler business name like LifeSpeak. The more verbose descriptions can follow. You need something that makes a simple URL.
What you charge has to be based on the costs of operating the business. You need to figure out some minimal level business you think you can maintain, and make enough money from that to at least break even, and hopefully make a profit. You can work backwards from a price if you had a good idea what the market would bear, but it’s probably a pretty low price, so you’re better off figuring out the minimum you need. I’d suggest instead of CD, make it a DVD that includes video, and a website for each customer that has both audio, video, and written material.
I kinda disagree. This doesn’t seem like the type of business where you’re getting the impulse purchase “$10? Well I’d be a fool not to buy one at those prices!” Lowering the price won’t guarantee you get an increase in quantity of business because price isn’t the determining factor for purchase. This seems more like a one-off gift the family would purchase for an aging relative and, for that, price is no object (um…within reason).
Bottom line is that I have no earthly clue how popular or in demand this service would be. But, price will be a secondary concern in whether you get a sale.
Good considerations. Overhead will honestly be negligible. I will be doing interviews in my home, neutral location or the interviewees home. This will be local (driving less than 60 miles) and the expense of producing CDs and a digital files is next to nothing. It is my time and my effort. Of course will need to start small and see how much actual time each interview takes but I don’t expect to get rich. Yet.
I am not doing video:). Many reasons for this, but basically it creates more tech issues and people are often not comfortable speaking in front of a camera. While video may seem more marketable or valued, a quality conversation is extremely evocative for most people and makes one focus on the content and nuance of language and not the physical characteristics of the person. I have spoken to many people about this and there are differing opinions about if video is necessary–I’m going to really focus on audio only unless people demand video.
Probably nothing. I’ve got a recording device already. If I want an oral history from a relative or document my own, I can do it myself.
This is one of the biggest fallacies of the business world. You don’t set your price as it relates to your costs. You set your price based upon your customer’s next best alternative. Otherwise you could be pricing your product too low or too high. The customer’s next best alternative may be to purchase from one of your competitors or even for them to backward integrate and make your product themselves.
I’m glad you brought this up. I realize many people will say, “Why should I pay when I can do it myself?” The thing is that it not only takes time and effort to do this, it require certain skills that not everyone has. Indeed, anyone can just turn on the Iphone and start recording but a good interview requires quite a bit more savvy and presence of mind. Also, many people plan on doing this (“I should have dad talk about his experience in “Nam” before he gets too sick”) but it doesn’t happen. We all procrastinate about having those important conversations with our loved ones.
Also, while some people would feel more comfortable speaking with someone they know, others may find this MORE difficult and would rather speak to someone who is neutral and who can engage in a very different way than a loved one. Intimacy and love sometimes make it harder to talk, especially if there are complicated mixed feelings or other emotions mixed in. My interviews will also have the option of having others in the room, or having someone else ask the questions with me in more of a support role.
I’m not trying to convince you, Omar Little, just trying address some of the larger issues.
It depends on the type of business, and the fixed costs. This business may not have high fixed costs, and so could work backwards, finding the ideal price and making the business work based on that. But no business will survive for long if it does not charge more for the product than it costs to produce it.
I understand your concerns. But any competitor could easily do the same thing you are, and offer video. And by video I don’t mean just new videos you record, but the ability to include pictures and existing videos that the customer already has. Including already recorded material is a negligible additional cost.
Any business whose customer’s alternatives are lower than the business’s costs won’t be in business anyway. The customer’s will eventually figure this out and leave.