Last year, business was hurting because of the economy so I hired a consultant to help figure out a new strategy. He suggested I change the name of my company to make it more self-explanatory. After researching names and available domains, I chose ProBusinessVideo. But I decided not to just blow up Schreiner Productions and make the change immediately. I chose to do it gradually and, in fact, have been operating the companies simultaneously providing different products to different clients.
While the two companies have overlapped over the past year, I finally have an exclusive client for ProBusiness Video: Wine Insiders. It’s the brainchild of John Davis, a veteran Chicago restauranteur and owner of the world-famous Geja’s Cafe. He started his mail order and Internet wine selling business 25 years ago. I met John last month at a party in the Avenues, a funky, old neighborhood northeast of downtown Salt Lake. We started talking wine and video and in the process, he hired me.
We shot our first two videos at his current, temporary home in Park City earlier this month and I just delivered them to him the other day over beautifully chilled sauvignon blanc at Robert Redford’s Zoom Restaurant in downtown Park City. “Fabulous” he called the videos (maybe he was talking about the wine). “And a great value”- which, to a scrambling entrepreneur like myself, means “more, more, more. Bring it on, baby.”
John, now in his 70s, is a fascinating conversationalist, a still-active and successful businessman, and is keen on leveraging his web presence to bolster his marketing in the face of growing competition. It didn’t take him long after meeting me to be convinced that video must be a major component to this effort. As lone wolf businessmen, I think we understand each other pretty well.
So ProBusiness Video and Wine Insiders are now partners. As are ProBusiness Video and Schreiner Productions. I guess that means that I’m partners with myself. If business gets any better, I’m going to need a shrink.
