Entrepreneurship Stories: Black-Owned Business Month Series: Videographers
Entrepreneurship Stories: Black-Owned Business Month Series
Q&A Featuring Videographers Ron Green of The Video Plug & Kyle and Gianni Rand of Kannon Studios
August is “Black-Owned Business Month” in America. To celebrate, we’ve teamed up with Cherokee By Choice Investor Georgia Power to feature Cherokee-based black-owned businesses all month long. These inspiring stories will shed a well-deserved light on their incredible leadership, business acumen, and resilience.
“Georgia Power is proud to partner with the Cherokee Office of Economic Development to feature black business month. Minority-owned businesses in Georgia provide over 575,000 jobs to hard-working Georgians and energize the state’s economy. Georgia Power strives to empower these businesses by building social and economic opportunities in communities across the state through our engagement and partnerships that incubate new business owners and ideas,” said Georgia Power Area Manager Jeff Butterworth.
To kick off the series, we’ll hear from local videographers Ron Green of The Video Plug and Kyle and Gianni Rand of Kannon Studios. These dynamic professionals help businesses attract new clients through compelling video content that leaves the viewer wanting more. Follow along on cherokeega.org and via social media to like, follow, and share.
Ron Green | The Video Plug
Tell us why you started your business in Cherokee.
I decided to start my business in Cherokee because number one, I live here. Number two, Cherokee is such a supportive community; both personally and professionally. It’s a great place to start your business.
How has staying engaged within the community through programs like 1MC and other business networking groups helped grow your business?
Staying engaged in the community with organizations like 1 Million Cups and other organizations has helped my business grow tremendously. It gives you incredible visibility just to be in front of people and meet other like-minded entrepreneurs – it’s a great way to grow your business.
As a small business owner, how are you working to keep a competitive advantage in today’s economy?
As a small business owner, I’m doing what I love to do, which is network. Networking is the number one factor for me to maintain a competitive advantage – just being in front of people. We grow through other people. I meet people who are smarter than me, who have been here longer, and can give me wise counsel. Networking is a great way to have an advantage.
How can we as a community best support you now and in the future?
The best way to support The Video Plug and other businesses in Cherokee is simple… Be intentional. If we were more intentional about supporting businesses that are in Cherokee County, that would be phenomenal. It would really help our economy grow; we would get to know each other better and continue to build a dynamic community.
Tell us about how we can learn more about your business.
You can learn more about The Video Plug on Facebook at “The Video Plug” or on Instagram at “@thevideoplug100.” You can also check us out on our website, www.video-plug.com.
Kyle and Gianni Rand | Kannon Studios
Tell us why you started your business in Cherokee.
We started our business because honestly, we wanted a place that would allow us to create content easily. We wanted to share stories that we’ve had throughout our lives, including the struggles that we’ve had to get closer to our community. That sort of drove why we wanted to have a studio. We looked for a space that was similar to what we wanted, but we couldn’t really find anything that fit that need specifically, so we were like, “okay we’ll just do it ourselves.”
How has staying engaged within the community through programs like 1MC and other business networking groups helped grow your business?
For us, it has been more about brand awareness. We’re not new to the industry, but our actual studio is new. We’ve been open for a little over two months, so coming to events like 1MC and other networking events has helped us establish relationships. Ultimately, that turns into business – whether we work with that person directly or get referrals. So just getting our name out there and having people talk about us and Kannon Studios is where networking events and programs like 1MC have helped the most.
As a small business owner, how are you working to keep a competitive advantage in today’s economy?
In addition to video, we also do photography and podcasting in our studio. Now, the target for us is pouring more dollars into marketing. We understand that people aren’t spending as much, but the type of clients that we typically attract (which are mostly business owners or those who work for a bigger company), understand the importance of connecting with people now more than ever before. We’re building relationships, so when people are ready to start spending – we’re in the back of their minds. In addition, we are always educating ourselves and looking at different trends so we can improve for our customers.
How can we as a community best support you now and in the future?
I think events like 1MC and sharing about some of the struggles that we face as videographers is helpful. Education-based events that we can share from our experience and expertise are powerful but so is bringing in outside sources that can help us grow as experts – whether it’s new technology or marketing/social media management, upcoming trends, or things that are changing in our industry. That’s our sweet spot – being able to engage in our community, but also to learn from others in our community who’ve gone a little bit further than we have.
Tell us about how we can learn more about your business.
Introduce us to people that haven’t heard of us. I would invite you to schedule a one-on-one with us, and either come by the studio or meet us for coffee. We want to build a relationship with as many people in the community as possible. It’s not something that we are going into and expecting a sale, but we want to start the beginning of a relationship. That starts with having a conversation and sharing stories. That is literally the best way for anyone to help our company. Schedule a time to talk with us; we would love to chat.
Click here to learn more about Kannon Studios.