Take a rapidly changing market, throw in new “low to no cost” distribution methods, add two lumps of recession and you have our current business environment. And it isn’t pretty. Surviving in post has always been a challenge, but now it is a nightmare. Fortunately Philip Hodgetts’ new book “The New Now: Grow your production or postproduction business in a changed and changing world” has come along to help navigate these tumultuous times. In spite of the lengthy title, this is an excellent guide full of helpful tips that I would recommend to anyone in our industry.

Most of what is in the book can be found by scouring the web and certain business tomes. Hodgetts has done all the legwork for you, pulled these sources together and laid them out in an orderly progression. Available in both book form (for those of us who like to sit outside and read) and a PDF download version for half the price. The advantage to the PDF version is that it comes with lots of active hyperlinks that are only listed as footnotes in the book.

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Hodgetts starts off by urging you to contact all of your existing customers and see if there is anything you can help them with. Not sell them, just help with. This is a very clever approach as it allows you to find out what your customers need without being a pushy turn-off to them.

Next he urges you to identify what business you are truly in and come up with a brand identity. These are very important steps for the marketing and PR steps that follow later. Rounding it out with sections on how to sell better, cut costs and work smarter.

Even though you could find all this information yourself, having it culled from many sources and customized for our industry is of great value. If you read this book and apply the steps, you will have a serious leg up on your competitors, even in these trying times.