We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Sharon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Yes, fortunately I have! When I decided to go to film school and toured colleges in Los Angeles, I quickly realized I didn’t want to work in Hollywood. I attended Colorado Film School and then worked part-time as a freelancer and part-time with a small local production company that produced emotionally-compelling nonprofit brand and fundraising videos. I was hesitant to start my own business because I wasn’t sure if I could support myself, but I knew I didn’t want a traditional job. After I got my first big paying client, I decided to take a leap of faith and in 2013, I launched my own company, 6162 Productions.

I focused on the nonprofit niche and that first year, I was able to earn a full-time income and pay some contractors who helped on projects. It gave me confidence that I could have a sustainable income and grow the business. I won’t lie, it’s definitely still scary each year not knowing how much business I’ll bring in. Having the nonprofit niche was very helpful because it provided an easy referral network and people could compare the work I was doing for others.

I slowly built a solid portfolio, starting on the low end of rates. As I built my portfolio and my confidence grew, I continued to raise rates. I think common mistakes entrepreneurs make is not to raise rates or delegate properly. I trusted the team of contractors I had built, which went a long way because they could execute projects while I continued to get new clients. You can only take on so much if you’re doing it all yourself and I realized that quickly. As I increased our project and unit rates, I could bring on more contractors. As the portfolio grew and I diversified the types of clients and projects, people saw the high level of production value and were willing to pay higher rates.

Michael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born and raised in Centennial, Colorado, a suburb near Denver. I have two sisters; one who is 11 ½ years older and one who is 18 months younger. As a child, I was creative and loved dressing up in costumes, putting on plays with my younger sister, and making worlds come alive through my Legos and other toys.

When I was 13, we borrowed a friend’s video camera to make a video for my grandparents who lived out of state. One day, while my parents were helping my older sister move, my younger sister and I filmed a movie about spies. I shot the whole 50-minute epic on this old camcorder, rewinding the tape every time there was a flub on set. That’s when my passion for storytelling and filmmaking was born!

Over the next few years, I wrote, filmed, directed, and starred in several amateur films and even got a couple of them screened in a movie theater. My older sister, Alaina, worked in PR and marketing, so she booked some TV and print interviews for me. When I started my business, the nonprofit Alaina worked for also hired me to do several videos over the years, and we enjoyed working together. In fact, she joined my company this year to help with business development, marketing, and client relations.

I named the company, 6162 Productions, after my parents’ address–the home I grew up in and where I found my passion for filmmaking. 6162 is a reminder of those humble beginnings, fueling my desire to make every project just as special as the first time I hit the “record” button on the camcorder at age 13.

Today, 6162 Productions is a Telly Award-winning video production company that creates mission-driven brand films that unite story with strategy for maximum impact. We love helping brands of all sizes with creative, human-centric, authentic storytelling that conveys their vision, mission, and values. Our team is experienced in working with vulnerable populations; we are dedicated to sensitively structuring interviews and B-roll content to ensure comfortability for all participants involved with the filming process.

We thrive in collaborative partnerships, we’ve worked with many agencies on each phase of the production process. We lend our expertise in story structure/pacing all the way through the post-production stage. 6162 operates as a creative collective, giving us the ability to assemble the best team for each project and to easily scale to fit the budget and scope of the video, as well as execute quickly and efficiently. We have amazing video production talent that we can mobilize all over the country, with hubs in Denver, Seattle, Portland, New York, and LA.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

For the first two to three years we were in business, at least 95% of our clients were nonprofit organizations. I relied heavily on referrals, added myself to key directories, made strategic partnerships with event planners, and had many calls and coffee meetings with people in my network and referral sources.

I moved to Seattle in 2016 and started diversifying into different sectors. It helped that I went to graduate school for digital communications and met new people through the program that introduced me to clients in the education, technology, and healthcare industries.

I also realized it was smart to form strategic partnerships with marketing and ad agencies so they could regularly refer clients and partner on projects. That has been key and is much faster and more efficient than individually reaching out to the businesses and organizations directly. This is definitely a relationship-oriented business, so I spend a lot of time networking, reaching out to warm leads, planting seeds, etc.

Building a solid portfolio is one important aspect of growing a business, but the way you work with your clients and your reputation is equally as important. I’ve made sure to maintain consistent communication, be open to collaboration, bring creative ideas to the table, be prompt and available, and give my clients one-on-one attention, and they respond well to this. Not only do we deliver stellar products, but we’re great to work with, so people hire us again and refer us to colleagues.

It’s been cool to see how my business has evolved in the last nine years! I had about 20 clients in the first year and now work with about 50 annually with more deliverables for each one. The more people you have in your network, the relationships you build, and the seeds you plant definitely creates a snowball effect to grow the business.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Every day is different and it’s a very stimulating profession. It’s so cool that I can think of an idea and if the client likes it, they’ll pay me to make it reality! I remember one day I was sitting at my desk brainstorming ideas for a law firm’s video about a new app to settle personal injury cases. I came up with the idea to make a spoof on the Dating Game and the client loved it, so we made it happen and created a successful social media campaign video. I also love seeing a perspective that no one else has seen and sharing those ideas with my clients. Ever since getting into filmmaking as a kid, I’ve always thought about how you can see the world in different ways, from literally changing your perspective by filming up from the ground, to empathizing with someone who is different from you.

Through this work, I have learned a lot about different walks of life and had opportunities to see aspects of life I otherwise wouldn’t, such as filming at a homeless shelter, witnessing innovative education programs, going into an operating room, etc.

Hearing people’s stories and business ideas is amazing. As I’m telling their story through video, I get a lot of insights into their company, what drives them, and what they’re passionate about. It’s invigorating to hear people’s passion about their work, which helps continue to motivate me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.6162productions.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/6162_productions
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/6162productions
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/6162-productions
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/6162productions
• Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9143102