Digital Hitchhiker

It’s hard to believe that its already been a year since I left Daily Planet Productions ltd. and started my own business, LooseKeys. Going from a secure job with benefits and a guaranteed paycheck each week to… well, no job security, no benefits and if we don’t get enough work, there’s no paycheck at all. Its been crazy but at the same time exciting. I have no regrets for making this change and starting this venture. This year has flown by and has been one of the most exciting times of my life. Every day has proven to be a new adventure and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. You can only be prepared so much for starting your own business. Having Maeve there with me along the way has proven to be an extra benefit, without her by my side, everything would have been twice as challenging. Over the last year I’ve had the chance to work on some amazing projects for LooseKeys with some great clients.

Its been a crazy ride these last twelve months, but we’re only getting started. I’ve built some solid relationships already and I’m looking forward to strengthening them even further. So get ready for some big things from the LooseKeys team.

Thank you all for your support in helping to make LooseKeys a success!

Earlier this year I started running, it wasn’t to get in shape or make myself healthy, that’s just been an added benefit from it. For three years I biked to and from work at Daily Planet Productions ltd. office everyday. The main reason I started running was because I work from home now and I needed something to get me away from the computer to let me mull over some ideas or issues I might be struggling with. I’ve mentioned before about how getting the sketchbook out is a great tool to help clear your mind and deal with some ideas. I’ve thought about trying meditation but I think I’d just fall asleep. So for me I find a good run or bike ride helps me with this. Lately, it’s been a lot more runs then bike rides. When you’re out there it’s just you and the road, you’re free to let your mind wonder a bit. It’s also been a great manager for stress; after a 5 mile run, those project set backs aren’t as troubling. I’m not sure if I’d get that same stress killing result with meditation. Whatever it takes for you to manage stress and clear your mind, do it. If its the sketchbook, running, meditation, biking or swimming, just do it and get yourself away from the computer for an hour, 30 minutes, or even five.

I’m always interested to hear why people started to build their business. Sometimes its a passion, sometimes its an accident and often it’s for the money. I knew in college that I wanted to start a design or motion graphics business. I loved the craft then just as much as I do now, it’s inspiring to see what people can create with a computer and time. In college, Nik Madalinski and I tried to get something going but with the lack of experience and clients, it sort of fizzled away. Which was probably a good thing since we had no idea what we were doing at the time and we had a lot to learn. Flash forward to four years later at Daily Planet Productions ltd., Vanida Vae and I had the chance to work on a number of animated explainer videos for the Chicago startup, Groupon. At the time, we were both fans of Groupon and had no idea how big they were going to get or how our videos were going to help drive that success. At that time there were a few businesses doing explainer and demo videos but I wasn’t as familiar with them as I am now. My focus was much more on the top tier post production studios and the work they were creating. Holding my work and the work we did at Daily Planet to that same level. Vanida and I both saw the Groupon video as a great motion graphics piece we could build. We wanted to make an awesome and clever video. Without knowing it our video became a part of Groupon, people all over the internet saw the piece and many wanted something like it for their product or startup.

A year ago, after seeing the success of the Groupon video and receiving emails everyday asking if I could create a similar video for other startups, I knew that I needed to start my own company. The demand for startup videos was there and somebody needed to do them. I know the motion graphics business and what it takes to get something designed and animated. I’ve been doing it for seven years, behind the keyboard and screen almost everyday. I knew that I could create some pretty awesome explainer videos for start ups and other businesses. Helping tell their story or explain their product just like I did with Groupon. And so LooseKeys was born.

I’m not just another business owner who has money and is hiding behind the scenes letting other people do the animating and designing. I’m here working on every project at some stage of its creation. Right now I believe this is what makes LooseKeys unique. Startups and businesses know they are working with me. I might have help in order to make deadlines or pick up slack where my skills are lacking but you know if you are talking to me you can bet I’m leading the crew or doing much of the work myself. That team of people are very important to me and coming from the motion graphics world, I know how important sharing work and being credited for your time is to someone. That’s why on every project I post or LooseKeys posts, I make sure to credit the people that worked on the project. I want them to get the same amount of recognition as I did for making sure the project came together. And I’m not worried about a client or competitor stealing away these awesome people in the credits either. These talented people want to design and create as much as I do, so more power to them if they can get additional work by working with me. Having your name out there has value and I would have never been able to start LooseKeys if I couldn’t of shared the Groupon video almost two years ago. Someone asked me if I was worried that a startup who was on a budget would just try to contact the people I’ve credited instead of approaching LooseKeys for the job? Especially since you can see the name right there in the credits.

My response is no. I know that people are coming to me and LooseKeys for my work and my knowledge not just because I know good people to work with. Anyone can find great talent to work with and build a team. I understand what it takes to make a well thought out, uniquely designed, successful product. I know I have the skill set to head up a project, to coordinate with clients, to craft a script, design style frames and storyboards, animate, and do sound design. And when I don’t have the time to do it all, I know many talented people who can help me with all the aspects needed to get the job done.

Each day there are more and more explainer video businesses and motion graphics shops popping up. It’s easier everyday to get started. But it’s the businesses that are run by the creative person first and not just the guy with the money that succeeds in making the most creative and enduring work.

The amount of birthday cake and cupcakes I get to eat since I left Daily Planet Productions ltd. has really decreased. There are no pizza Fridays or random baked goods showing up in the kitchen. Which might be good for the waist line but is a bit sad… There is something about that camaraderie of an office that really makes it wonderful. If there was one thing I really missed about working in a space with a team it’s the cake. Alright it’s not really the cake but the people that come with it all that delicious cake. The freedom of working remotely whenever and wherever is amazing. No matter how great your virtual team is there is something wonderful about spending thirty around the kitchen table for someones birthday. You really get to know people and build relationships that makes your team stronger. Those kind of relationships take so much longer to build online and with far less cake.

There was a great quote from Ron Swanson on the latest episode of Parks and Recreation that really struck a cord with me. “Never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.” That was pretty much the precise reason I left Daily Planet Productions ltd. and went off on my own to build LooseKeys. I tried for almost a year to work my “day job” and build a business on the side. At some point I began to notice my work and quality slipping on both sides. I had to make the choice as to which one I wanted to “whole ass”. The choice for me was hard but pretty clear, I needed to go off on my own and build LooseKeys. If you’re not 100% behind what you’re doing then you’ll never know what it can be or become. Building slow and on the side seems great but at some point you have to make the choice. You just can’t do both and expect there not to be any mistakes, you’re kidding yourself. Make a choice and decide what your going to “whole-ass”.

I’ve talked about or rather joked about getting swag or schwag for LooseKeys before. Maybe some t-shirts, pint glasses or iPhone cases. But I’ve never bought any of these because I know they are really just a waste of money. None of my clients want a LooseKeys shirt, the only people that would wear one are myself, maybe some friends and the shirts probably wouldn’t be worn often. So in that case the whole point of swag as a marketing tool to remind clients about me is missed. A useful piece of swag would be something that serves as a constant reminder of a company; perhaps a coffee cup that could sit on someone’s desk everyday. If your logo is on that cup, the customer is continuously exposed to that logo in a neutral setting. Over time, hopefully they will grow favorable towards it and be more likely to call you rather than a competitor. But really I don’t see that happening. This isn’t the 1950’s; a list of competitors, their prices, ratings and recommendations are just a few clicks away online.

I think Mark Cuban said is perfectly “if you really think people are going to wear your branded polo when they’re out and about, you are mistaken and have no idea how to spend your money.”

How about using that money to train yourself on new technology or buying updated equipment. I bet a new computer or some extra RAM in that computer would help you a lot more then a box of umbrellas with your logo on them. 

If you really want to have a giveaway for an event or conference, be creative and unique. Don’t go through the catalog and just find stuff to stick your logo on. If it’s not something unique that has that same creative spirit as your company and people who work there, then don’t do it just for the sake of doing it. It’s a waste of resources and time. Daily Planet ltd. has the right idea, they do swag and giveaways well. They often do hand screened t-shirts usually without the Daily Planet ltd. logo on them. The designs are always fantastic, showing off the talented creative team and giving clients something they are happy to wear.

The only thing I’ve given out for LooseKeys as of right now is stickers. I enjoy stickers and always had them growing up; my skateboard deck was covered in them at one point. So the stickers are a part of me and the culture at LooseKeys. They are inexpensive and easy to carry around. Hopefully the people I give them to have a place to stick ‘em near where they work. But if not I have a neat sticker that I’d be happy putting up someplace.

If you really feel like you want swag for your company then get creative and personal with your swag but if you can’t do that then maybe you should just spend your money on something better.

That conventional work idea of going to a place and working 9 AM - to - 5 PM seems to be dying and for me it’s been gone for awhile. Being in the creative field, I don’t even recall the last time I called it a day at 5 PM, even when I was working at Daily Planet Productions ltd. But now that I’m working for myself and building my own business I go back and forth on the need for a physical space. I can’t say you’ll never see me with an office but right now I don’t really have a need for it. Every dollar I spend or save is important and with a business starting out, a physical space is something that isn’t worth the overhead. The traditional office was necessary less than a decade ago, you needed a place for clients to meet and packages to be delivered. But today working from home, a coffee shop or a co-working space seems to be the norm. And since many of the clients that I work with don’t live in Chicago it dosen’t matter to them where I’m physically working at as long as the project gets done on time and looks good. Even having a space for freelancers who I might have working for me isn’t necessary when I can easily pass files around through Dropbox or jump on a Skype video chat with them. Sure it might be nice to be able to just walk over to their desk and check on the status of things but why shouldn’t I give them the freedom my clients give me. I know this isn’t an option for some folks since you might be working on a project with a larger team and larger files. For that I’d recommend looking around your city for a co-working space or incubators. With a small amount of money, much less then you would spend on your own space you can rent a desk or multiple desks for your team. You’ll also be surrounded by other people who are working because I know working alone can sometimes wear on the solo entrepreneur or freelancer.

Embrace the end of the office and cubical and enjoy the freedom of working wherever and whenever.

It’s been six months since I left Daily Planet Productions ltd. and started LooseKeys. Although I freelanced for a couple years before starting at Daily Planet a lot has changed in the industry and trying to run your own business is a whole other thing. In the last six months I’ve learned a lot and it’s been a fun ride. I don’t want you to misjudge what my day is like just because you see me grabbing an occasional beer at 2 PM. What you don’t notice are the times at 2 AM where I’m answering emails and brainstorming new ideas. Or maybe you do… I’m working towards creating that sort of work everyone else wishes they were working on. Working with the fun clients on the cool projects. I wouldn’t be working this hard if I didn’t want it. That’s part of what has made the first six months so fun and often terrifying. I had no idea what the outcome was going to be but now that it’s here it’s eye opening; the possibilities where I can go now are pretty exciting. You’ll never hear me say I’ve made it but that’s only because there is an endless amount to learn and do. I’m looking forward to another six months and I can’t wait to celebrate that first year of LooseKeys in May 2012.   

The moment you have any success with anything, you can quickly become the go-to person on that topic. I’ve been asked a couple times to help create a viral video and how I had done it before. Being asked to create a viral video is always a funny thing to be asked because you really can’t call it a viral video until it goes viral. And what really makes a successful viral video? Is it people sharing, the sales from the video, number of views, or the recognition? For me personally, it’s the recognition or talk value that really defines a successful video. I’ve been told by many people how much they loved the Money Money Money music video. That tells me that one, they watched it and two, since they are telling me that they liked it that means they likely shared it with friends as well. I wish I could say there was some sort of secret formula and I had that magic to share but really there are only good strategies and practices. In the end it’s keeping your fingers crossed and hope for the best. With that said I wanted to share some thoughts on how we were able to get over 200,000 views on the Money Money Money video in only a few months.

First and foremost, the number one driving force behind every viral video is having a good idea or concept. I’m sorry but just uploading the same commercial you put out for TV doesn’t make for an online viral video. There is 35 hours of content uploaded every minute to youtube and most of that has under 500 views. The likelihood of catching the attention of the web audience is small.

After someone watches your video you want them to say to themselves I have to share this with my friends. What makes a video sharable? Simply think about what you like to have forwarded on to you and what you like to forward onto others. There is either a wow, that’s the coolest thing I’ve seen or I can’t stop laughing after seeing this. I’m a big fan of the wow that’s funny kind of videos. Humor is always sharable, so funny videos have proven to be very popular and have been the genesis of multiple cross-media promotions. If a video makes you say, “Wow!” it has potential to go viral. But if a person isn’t getting some visceral response from it, chances are they won’t ask their friends to see it.

So you have a video that you think is great and ready to share but you should think about when and where you share it first. There are a lot of factors to take into account when you decide to upload and release your video for the first time. Don’t launch your video on a Friday night, the audience is going to be small mot people are not checking Twitter and Facebook at this time. You really are not going to gain traction till Monday when most people are online checking to see what happened over the weekend. This isn’t a tested day; I’ve only had one video go viral but we launched the Money Money Money video on Wednesday in the early afternoon. Launching a video on a Wednesday or Thursday is the perfect time. Most people are looking for something to help lift their spirits till the weekend. If your video can do that they are going to want to share that joy with friends. Where to launch is almost as important as the when. Most people will tell you to get the video distributed on every video site and platform you can. But knowing how your audience watches is also important. I knew that Vimeo had become the place every motion graphics artist is posting their work. They are active on the site, trust the content from Vimeo to be quality and as a result are most likely to watch a Vimeo link in twitter then a YouTube link. So first I posted the video onto Vimeo and Facebook and then the next day or so I began to post it on other sites including YouTube and MySpace. Rather then dumping the video and over saturating the web I was able to make the Vimeo version of the video the most active and shared version. Depending on your audience though YouTube or Facebook might be a better launching site for your video.

If I’m given the option to create and promote another video I would go about it the same way. I hope I was able to help guide you in the right direction but there is no easy answer for the question. Just be sure that you make quality work and hopefully the rest will fall in line.

I’m sure we’ve all wished there were more hours in the day so we could get a little more done and be able to bill just a couple more hours. I find myself wishing this at least once a week with nearly every project I’m working on. I think if only I had time to do this or if I spend just a few more hours I can do it that way. Sometimes you can squeeze in a few more hours on a job but it’s not always going to make the project better. If you push yourself too far and stay up longer then you should, trying to take hours away from sleeping there is a good chance the following day isn’t going to be as productive as it could have been. Was that extra three hours of work worth the following day working at a slower pace? Recently, finishing up a few 15 plus hour work days at Daily Planet ltd. really proves this point. The project needed to get done and of course I was going to put in everything I could to accomplish this. There were a few moments during these long hours that I found myself staring at my computer screen moving the same couple of keyframes back and forth. No real work was getting done I was just putting in time. My brain needed to rest and recharge and I’ve said before how important it is to get away from your computer and take a break. But when the deadline looms and the clients sitting their waiting to see something that isn’t always an option. As many of you know, I put in a lot of hours practicing my craft, collaborating on new projects and looking for what my next great idea might be but there is a limit, even for me. As I was putting in more and more time each day on this recent project, I realized there was a limited number of hours that allow me to perform creative tasks. Sure, some of this project was waiting on 3D renders and then having to composite those into After Effects and it all wasn’t work, work, work but for the most part my mind wasn’t able to rest for more then an hour or so before I needed to jump back into it. It was a constant push and we were working longer hours. Of course we got it done and it shipped off to wherever it needed to go. The long hours and practically sleepless nights paid off for this project, but for me I was drained and pretty much exhausted. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one because I know a couple other people on the project put in even longer hours then I did. It took me several days to recover from this and as a result I didn’t want to work on a few other things I needed to accomplish.

In this case adding more hours of work to this project got more work done, but on the whole I ended up needing a long recovery time and that resulted in lost productivity in those following days when I was zapped of creative energy or any energy at all. This isn’t some sort of data entry job where the work is so second-nature that you don’t have to think about what you are doing. If you are doing creative work more time working does not necessarily equal more accomplished work. In the future when I find myself starting the day earlier and earlier and finishing later and later, often working more and more hours just to feel like I was accomplishing something; I have to stop and think if I’m really getting more done.

Check out the latest explainer video that we created at Daily Planet ltd. for the startup Buscan2. This video was originally created for the Latin market and the voice over was recorded in Spanish. Due to the NDA unfortunately we are not able to post the video with the voice over. The character animation and colors are great and with or without the voice over it’s a great piece and was a pleasure to work on.

Client: Buscan2
Animators: Jon Adler, Brad Chmielewski, Scott Pellman, Jess Donofrio, Nik Braatz & Brad Backofen

Check out the music video that we just finished up over at Daily Planet ltd. It’s pure motion graphics love with one inside joke after another.

Production Company: Daily Planet Productions ltd.
Music: Money Money Money
Lyrics: Money Money Money & Jon Adler
Producers: Jon Adler, Brad Chmielewski & Vanida Vae
Director: Jon Adler
Director of Photography: Aaron Hui
Camera: Aaron Hui
Animators: Brad Chmielewski, Vanida Vae, Jon Adler, Jess Donofrio, Scott Pellman
Rotoscopers: Maeve Price, Anne Rooney, Drew Kordik, Shawn Sahara
Editor: Maeve Price

And if you’re looking to see how it all came together take a look at the rough cut.