A long time client recently contacted me asking for advice. She is a public speaker who travels around the country to deliver talks for major corporations.

Her goal was simple: Gather enough video from speaking engagements to create an updated demo reel.

Since she didn't have the budget to pay a crew to exclusively follow her around the country and capture footage of her speaking she immediately considered the DIY approach. Naturally she asked me:

What's a good camcorder to get?

My father, who is a Master Electrician, describes his typical customer as someone who "knows enough to be dangerous." This means that they know enough about electricity to attempt to do the job on their own. However, it's likely that they will forget a crucial step; potentially injuring themselves or causing damage to their home. Attempting the DIY approach with video or advertising may not be fatal, but can have lasting damaging effects.

Sometimes doing it yourself just isn't worth it.We all know that it is important to save money for your business, but before you try to manage budget constraints it is crucial to figure out what is important for your business and then spend money the things that are important. If you run a motorcycle repair shop, probably the number one priority for your business is getting the best repairmen, and making sure they can handle any problem that rolls into the shop. A flashy sign on the outside of your shop might earn you a few walk-ins, but spending money on hiring or equipment is probably a far better investment. In the case of my speaker client, audio and visual presence is a crucial part of her presentation. "Demoing" herself with bad (or stagnant) video and poor audio is very damaging to her business. It is important for her to come off as charismatic and engaging which can be represented perfectly by professionally shot video.

If you cheap out on the production, it will be much easier for prospective clients to say "No, thanks." to your high price tag. Simply put: You are worth a certain price. Make sure your collateral matches up to that price.

So what's a good camcorder to get? I'm not sure I know the answer to that question. It really depends on if you are looking to shoot your kid's soccer game or make a video that will get you hired.