Category: The Vid Biz

Here Comes The Digital Bride

After transferring many peoples’ wedding videos to DVD, I have decided to create a package specifically designed for that purpose.

This package combines your wedding video with your wedding pictures (up to 100).  The best part is the price.  Normally this package would cost $34.90!  Since I’m not in the business to make money, you save 30%!  The price you ask?  A mere $24.95!

So stroll on over to LML Video Services and take a look!

This includes many extras you would not receive if you purchased them seperate too, such as a data disc, custom everything, and music for the slideshow and menus.

If your getting married, I can even help with the production of your wedding DVD.  Just contact me for more info.

2007, A Growing Year?

I am hoping to continue LML Video Services‘ growth this year.  The major problem is trying to figure out how.

I took the first step by making it an actual business, and start a business checking account.  I also have a UPS account now.  I am trying to account for all financial items as well, as I used to use money from the business for what seemed right at the time.  I am looking into using Quickbooks, but it’s somewhat expensive.

One problem is visibility.  I don’t have a whole lot.  When I have some free time, I hope to write a nice email to one of the reporters in the local newspaper.  I try to do business locally when I can, but I do work with online clientele as well.  If any one out there knows how to raise your visibility with little or no money, please let me know!

I know this business will not bloom overnight, but it would be nice to actually make enough to live off of in 10 years or so.  I think this is the best option for me as I have never had a good experience working for someone else.

I have been a self taught wiz when it comes to technology related items since I was a teenager.  I actually had some excellent programming skillz until Windoze 2k came out, that changed everything.

As my wife sometimes thinks, I’m married to the computer, I just have an on going affair with her.

I do love u babe (do-do, do-do) 🙂

It’s Official!

My business, LML Video Services is no longer just a project I have in a room of my house.

Today, I registered it as a business with the Monroe County Recorder‘s office.  I then opened a business checking account.  This is a huge step for me, as I can now officially say I own a small business!

I wonder who I shall make officers?  I know, Editor B and Bartender J can be my jesters, I mean officers.  If it wasn’t for their support, I wouldn’t be where I am today with this.  To get technical, I wouldn’t be writing this .rox blog without them.  Thankx guys!

This does come with some disadvantages though, as I can no longer use my business money for personal uses, darn.

Hopefully things will only grow from here.

Power Restored…For Now Anyway

I swapped my “new” POS power supply for another today.

After speaking with the tech, he informed me of what could have caused this little disaster.  He informed me that the 12v section of the power supply went bad.  He then went on to tell me that when the L2 cache of the processor goes bad, it tends to short out the 12v supply.  He also told me that it generally takes a week.  (This is one of the few situations where I don’t know a whole lot BTW.)

He recommended to run some benchmark software for 24 hours.  When I first started running it, my CPU became hot, 95° C.  So I adjusted some BIOS settings and re-ran the app.  Now the temp is holding steady, in the mid 50’s range.

I hope this has solved my problem, but there is no real way to diagnose it (from what I know).

If it becomes the worse case scenario, my processor (an AMD Athlon X2 3800+, Toledo Core) is still under warrantee.  I also have my “old” processor sitting around as a backup.

This situation has proven to me that I need, not want, a backup computer.  I cannot run my business without it.  That is my next step.

Nothing Fits

So much has happened since I last posted.  This will be a mish-mosh if you will, of thoughts, ideas and updates.

Personally this has been a trying week for me.  I had an interview at IU for a position, but due to the weird hours I currently work, I accidentally overslept and missed the interview.  It was a way out of this crazy lifestyle I am currently living.

We have a new problem with the house, flooding!¬† The last couple of weeks has been very rainy in Bloomington.¬† We knew the house had flooded when we purchased it, but thought it was a one time deal, we were wrong.¬† I called some “waterproofing” companies.¬†¬†That was¬†a joke.¬† The first company said that they would rip all of our concrete block walls out and replace them, plus they would sell me some backfill rock that is “patented and revolutionary” for only $5995.¬† I can understand this in extreme situations, but this isn’t major flooding.

I had my dad get a hold of my step-uncle (long story) to take a look at it.¬† He did, and told me he thought it was leaking at the point where the water line comes into the house, which is directly under our front door.¬† I ripped out everything in the vicinity and did not find any significant signs of a place for water to come in, but cleaned the area and sprayed some “stuff” on it.¬† I guess after tonight we’ll see the results, as it’s been raining all day.

I have met a kind spirit at work, something that is lacking majorly here.¬† His name is C.J., he’s a very interesting man, who happens to be the same age as my father.¬† He is into the same things I am, and we always have something to talk about.¬† The other day he gave me a video monitor he no longer used (an upgrade I needed badly).¬† I will miss him when I leave.¬† I will make sure to give him all of my info when that happens though.

I received a new client for my video business.¬† He told me over the phone he has over 80 tapes he wants transferred to DVD.¬† I received his first shipment last Tuesday and have been working constantly on them.¬† I sent him a shipment of 8 DVD’s today.¬† I hope he enjoys the care and hard work I put into his family’s memories.

I have learned that I do have some limitations when it comes to transferring video now, so I am hoping to correct these issues as soon as the funds become available.¬† The current plan is to build another computer, using some of the available parts I have on hand, and moving some from my current computer.¬† I don’t need a power machine, just a decent one.¬† So I’m checking out my options.

Yesterday I shut off my computer and did some wiring work, installed a new surge protector and my computer wouldn’t come back on.¬† Turns out my power supply had went bad.¬† I was somewhat scared because this was one thing I hadn’t done on a computer yet.¬† $42 later, I have a bigger power supply installed (by me).

I must say something about Editor B’s speech.¬† I was not there, and only saw a snippet from Anderson Cooper 360, but I’m sure it was amazing.¬† After watching almost every episode of ROX, I have a good idea of how he spoke.¬† I hope XY got it on video?¬† It’s still hard for me to understand how it is taking so long to recover.¬† All I have to say is Andrew, how long did it take Florida to rebuild and recover?¬† I know I’m merely speculating, but come on, without New Orleans, this country wouldn’t be anything like it is today.¬† What do you think made westward expansion possible?¬† We the people need to remember that.

LML Video Services Revamped

I had a late night yesterday, creating a new version of my business website, LMLVideoServices.com.¬† Please look around, and let me know what you think!¬† I’m all about constructive criticism.

The website is more about information than selling, so please let me know what you think about the information included.

With the help of Editor B, I will hopefully have a better logo as well.  Thanks B!

I think with this version, the site is somewhat professional.  Finally!

If I Could Only Breathe

Life has been somewhat crazy lately.¬† I have been searching for a job for a while now, and it’s gotten to the point where I’ve went back to Big Red Liquors, and have taken a call center job.¬† Big Red never treated me bad, and was always there for me.¬† I have to give them major props for how they treat their “good” employees.¬† If they only paid more.¬† I am worried about this call center job though.¬† I worked in telemarketing back when I was 18, and I hated every minute of it.¬† This is “supposedly” not telemarketing, but I will believe it when I see it.

I have been sending out resumes like it’s going out of style, but I’m not getting a bite.¬† I have only had 1 interview, which I thought went really well.¬† My stepmother worked for the company when I was younger, I thought I was in.¬† I guessed wrong.

I have been making some progress on my Video jobs though, I completed a slide slideshow (511 slides), an 8mm film transfer, and I’m currently working on transferring a show for a friend.¬† I am somewhat dissapointed in the results from the 8mm film transfer, and so is the customer.¬† My first un-satisfied customer.

That project had problems from the start.  I received a call from him on Christmas eve 2005!  He then transferred me some money through paypal.  Then 4 months later I received the film.  The box he sent it in smelled of vinegar (old film smells like that when it breaks down).  I spent countless hours working on the project before I purchased my home, but it was nothing I was happy with.  After I moved everything changed.  I had lots of work to do on the house, yet I was receiving emails from this guy wondering where his film was.  I had informed him that I had ceased all activities until things settled down with the house.

I recieved an email from him stating he was worried about this transfer and the amount of time it was taking to complete.¬† So on a day I had some time, I shot as much as I could.¬† I ruined 2 of my vintage projectors in the process, but that’s another story.

I received another email from him today stating he received the completed DVD from me.  He said he felt as if it was a slap in the face, and that I should have just refunded his money and sent his film back. 

Part of me feels bad for not giving him a good product.¬† But the other part of me feels he received what he paid for.¬† Many companies on the internet charge more than double what he paid me to do 1 reel!¬† I did 10 or so!¬† In the end, I shouldn’t have taken on the project.¬† I say farewell to film transfers for good!

I am also working on as much as I can for ROX.  I am still needing footage due to heat damaged episodes, but progress is coming.  I have finally squeezed 5 episodes onto 1 DVD!  I believe the quality is as good as it should be too.

What a Week!?!

I’ve been so busy, tired and just plain confused to even think about writing for a while.¬† I have “some” free time, so I thought I would vent.

I had a chance at really making my mom & pop operation a real business!¬† Indiana University requested I give them a bid for a HUGE DVD transfer job.¬† It was going to be 250 or 500 DVD’s.¬† Luckily I had some inside information because my wife works there.¬† I tried to undercut everyone, which I think I did.¬† But in the end, the company who produced the video to be transferred received the job.¬† Better luck next time I suppose.¬† It’s nice to be considered though.¬† If I could only get my foot in the door.

Business has taken another one of it’s on again cycles.¬† My first customer had me transfer 19 VHS tapes, another co-worker wanted a tape transferred onto 2 DVDs, one in NTSC (American TV standard) and the other in PAL (a different TV standard).¬† It was a very interesting job.¬† Now the person who sits directly across from me wants me to transfer 12 VHS-C tapes into 3 DVD’s.¬† Something is better than nothing, I just hate this feast or famine stuff.

Then I had a slight computer melting problem.¬† For some unknown reason, a power connector to my video card sparked, and melted the connector.¬† Luckily a local computer shop gave me a pigtail to replace the connector and I’m back in black.¬† With as much DVD transfer and ROX work I’ve been doing, I’m seriously pondering replacing my case and upgrading to a dual-core processor.¬† From what I’ve read and researched, it would be a seamless upgrade.¬† The benefits would highly outweigh the costs.¬† For example right now it takes 2+ hours to render a ROX episode.¬† I could cut that time down to a little bit more than an hour with a dual-core processor.¬† So we’ll see I guess.

I got some interesting news today.¬† “ROXFAN” sent me an email saying he had copies of episodes 8&9 of ROX.¬† He said they are in decent shape.¬† Hopefully I will be getting a copy soon.¬† Maybe season one will get done before Christmas?

Mish Mosh

I’ve been having some connectivity problems lately with my PC.¬† It was built for speed and doesn’t like this “win” modem that I installed merely as a backup to broadband.¬† So I am not online like I used to be.

I have been doing a lot of work on our house lately.¬† Today my father, wife and I trimmed trees and moved them into a pile.¬† This took a lot of time.¬† The former homeowner did not maintain things as he should of.¬† The feng shui of my yard is starting to really flow.¬† I am starting to feel a positive vibe about it.¬† The only major¬†”to-do’s”¬†left with the yard are the remains of the pool and the trench in our yard from connecting to the sewer system.¬† They should be corrected by next year.

I am working on a 8mm to DVD job as well and found a nice feature of the software I use.¬† I can actually flip, rotate and reverse video!¬† It seems like something so small, but it’s huge.¬† I had a reel of film that was upside down and backwards, so it made it easy to fix.

I have changed e-mail addresses as well, all of you who know me got the email.¬† I am tired of juno, they seem to of sold out to “United Online.”¬† What happened to the good old dayz?

I will get to meet all of my neighbors in Sunrise Estates tomorrow for a neighborhood meeting.  A trailer park next to us wants to expand, and we are all meeting to discuss and try to supress this from happening.  I think it would be okay if this were a decent trailer park, but these trailers are not kept up, and are quite old.  Neither is the area the trailers are in.  There is no order to how they are placed.  One here, one there sort of thing.  Hopefully we can argue a happy medium. 

Until next time…..

Big Business, For Me Anyway

I have let a few things pile up due to the move.¬† I have an order to convert 8mm and Super8 films to DVD (about 15 reels in all).¬† Plus as soon as I came into work this morning my “first” customer handed me a box full of tapes he wants converted (19 to be exact).¬† I think once this simmers down, I’ll have some free time for ROX.

I hope to start working on them tonight.

The house has given me much more space than I thought of, and hopefully I can start multitasking at some of these things to be more productive.

Until next time,  be good (eg) like me!